University  of  California. 

G-IFT  OP^ 


^y^ccc,lS%y^ 


REPORT 


OP  THE 


rr 


III  if  m  filMML  illi! 


APPOINTED,  AT  THE 


BEQUEST  OF 


INVESTI 


ED  OF  TEUSTEES, 


HE  AFFAIRS 


OF  THE 


PENNSYLVANIA  STATE  COLLEGE, 


Under  a  Joint  Resolution  Approved  April  28,  1881. 
WITH  THE  Laws  and  Decrees  of  Court 

relating   to   SAID   COLLEGE. 


HARRISBURG: 

liANE   S.    HAEX,   STATE    PRINTER. 

1883. 


V 


-p^"^^ 


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^ 


■^9^>Y^ 


Legislative  Document, 


REPORT 


No.  18. 


OP  THE 


ni  i  I 


I 


! 


APPOINTED,  AT  THE 


Request  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  to  Investigate  the  Affairs  of 
the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  under  a  Joint  Reso- 
lution Approved  April  28,  1881. 


^\<^ 


To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania : 

Gentlemen  :  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  duty  of  investi- 
gating the  condition  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  respectfully  submit 
the  following  report  of  their  investigations  and  conclusions.  The  resolu- 
tion under  which  your  committee  was  appointed  was  the  following : 

In  the  Senate,  April  14,  1881. 

Whereas,  The  board  of  trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  have 
addressed  the  following  memorial  to  the  Legislature  : 

To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania : 
Gentlemen  :  The  board  of  trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  allegation  has  been  publicjy  made  in  your 
honorable  body  that  the  present  management  of  the  institution  fails  to 
comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  2,  1862,  and 
the  several  acts  of  the  Legislature  in  relation  thereto,  and,  recognizing  the 
right  and  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  see  that  the  plighted  faith  of  the 
Commonwealth  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  is  fully 
met  by  the  recipient  of  the  land-grant  fund,  respectfully  and  earnestly  re- 
quest that  a  committee,  to  be  composed  as  in  your  judgment  shall  be  proper, 
1— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


2  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

be  appointed  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  said  college.  The  desire  of 
the  board  of  trustees  is  that  the  investigation  may  be  thorough  and  ex- 
haustive ;  that  the  committee  be  composed  of  gentlemen  thorough!}^  in 
sympathy  with  the  higher  education  of  our  industrial  classes,  who  will  give 
much  time  and  thought  to  the  duties  which  will  devolve  upon  them  ;  that 
the  investigation  include  the  details  of  expenditure  in  the  past,  and  the 
necessit}'  for  the  appropriation  out  of  the  income  for  the  present  and  future ; 
the  present  scope  of  the  courses  of  study,  and  the  contemplated  enlargement 
of  the  same ;  the  quality  and  extent  of  the  instruction  given  in  the  class  room, 
and  the  facilities  afforded  in  laboratories,  workshops,  and  upon  the  farm, 
for  practical  instruction  in  the  branches  of  learning  which  are  related  to 
agriculture  and  the  m  xhanic  arts  ;  the  practical  value  of  the  experimental 
farms  connected  with  the  college,  as  required  by  the  act  of  the  19th  of 
February,  1867,  and  the  plans  to  be  adopted  to  secure  greater  efficiency  in 
their  administration  for  the  future  ;  and.  in  short,  the  entire  scope,  methods, 
plans,  and  operations  of  the  institution,  in  all  its  varied  and  various  depart- 
ments. The  work  being  necessarily  one  of  great  labor,  and  involving  the 
expenditure  of  much  time,  we  respectfully  suggest  that  the  committee  be 
allowed  to  sit  after  the  adjournment  of  the  present  and  report  to  the  next 
session  of  the  Legislature. 

"  On  behalf  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College, 
and  by  the  authority  thereof. 

"James  A.  Beaver, 
"  President  of  the  Board. 
"  Therefore, 

'■'■Resolved  by  the  Senate  of  the  Gommonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  {the 
House  of  Representatives  concurring,)  That  a  committee  of  thirteen  be 
appointed,  consisting  of  five  members  of  the  Senate,  and  eight  members  of 
the  House,  to  be  appointed  by  the  presiding  officers  of  the  respective  bodies, 
to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  as  prayed  for 
in  the  memorial  of  the  board  of  trustees  above  set  forth. 

"  Extract  from  the  journal  of  the  Senate. 

"THOMAS  B.  COCHRAN, 
"  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Senate. 

"In  the  House,  April  IJf..^  1881. 
"  The  foregoing  resolution  concurred  in. 

"HENRY  HUHN, 
"  Chief  Clerk  House  of  Representatives. 

"Approved  the  28th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1881. 

"  HENRY  M.  HOYT." 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  committee,  an  organization  was  affected  by 
the  election  of  Hon.  C.  T.  Alexander,  chairman,  and  the  Hon.  George  W. 
Hall,  secretary.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  inquiries  of  the  committee,  the 
>duty  of  taking  testimony  was  intrusted  to  a  sub-committee,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Mylin  and  Newmyer,  with  Alexander,  chairman  of  the  general 
committee  of  the  Senate,  and  Messrs.  Roberts  and  Hall  of  the  House  ot 
Representatives. 

The  said  committee,  having  pursued  their  investigations,  have  made  to 
us  the  accompanying  report,  which  meets  with  our  concurrence  and  in- 
dorsements.    We  herewith  present  the  same  as  part  of  our  report,  with  an 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  3 

appendix  embracing  the  acts  ot  Congress  and  acts  of  the  Legislature  re- 
lating to  the  State  College. 

C.  T.  ALEXANDER, 

Chairman. 
GEO.  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 
AMOS  H.  MYLIN, 
JNO.  C.  NEWMYER, 
EVAN  HOLBEN, 
WM.  B.  ROBERTS, 
ALFRED  SLACK, 
JAMES  MILHAM, 
A.  WILSON  NORRIS. 

To  the  general  committee  authorized  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  GolUge : 

The  sub-committee  created  bj  the  general  committee  appointed  under 
the  concurrent  resolution  of  the  Legislature  to  inrestigate  the  affairs  of  the 
Pennsylvania  State  College,  approved  April  28,  Anno  Domini  1881,  re- 
spectfully report : 

This  sub-committee  held  numerous  sessions  at  Harrisburg,  West  Grove, 
Chester  county,  at  Philadelphia,  at  the  State  College,  at  the  experimental 
farm  in  Indiana  county,  and  at  Bellefonte. 

They  sought  by  advertisements  in  the  newspapers,  by  public  invitations 
at  their  sittings,  and  by  diligent  personal  inquiries,  to  bring  before  them 
every  person  who  had  or  was  supposed  by  himself  or  others  to  have  any 
facts,  opinions,  or  criticisms  to  offer  which  could  throw  light  upon  the  sub- 
ject matter  of  the  inquiry,  and  lead  the  committee  and  tha  General  As- 
sembly to  an  impartial  and  satisfactory  understanding  of  the  real  merits 
of  the  questions  involved. 

And  in  justice  to  themselves,  in  this  connection,  the  committee  feel 
bound  to  say  that  if  any  facts  bearing  upon  the  matter  have  not  been 
brought  to  their  attention,  it  has  not  been  for  lack  of  diligent  effort  on 
their  part,  nor  because  the  doors  of  the  investigation  were  not  thrown  suf- 
ficientl}'^  wide  open  to  admit  every  comer.  The  resolution  inviting  commu- 
nications to  the  college,  was  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  all  persons  who  have  any  complaints  or  allegations  to 
make  against  the  management  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  be  in- 
vited to  forward  to  the  committee  at  Harrisburg,  on  or  before  March  20, 
1882,  any  statement  in  writing  they  desire  to  make."  * 

This  resolution  was  given  publicity  through  the  agency  of  the  Associated 
Press,  and  besides  this  general  invitation,  subpoenas  were  issued  to  ev^ery 
person  who  was  named  to  the  committee  as  possessing  information  or  facts 
likely  to  throw  light  upon  the  investigation,  and  notices  of  the  sittings  of 
the  committee  were  published  in  the  local  papers. 

The  general  field  of  inquiry  was  laid  out  under  the  following  resolution, 


4  Report  of  the  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

adopted  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  sub-committee,  at  Harrisburg,  January 
17,  1882: 

"  Resolved,  That  in  order  to  facilitate  the  labors  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed under  the  recited  resolutions,  the  committee  proceed  in  the  investi- 
gation in  the  manner  following  : 

"  First.  To  inquire  whether  the  present  management  of  the  college  is  in 
compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  2,  1862, 
and  the  several  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  in  relation 
thereto. 

"  Secondly.  To  examine  into  the  accounts  of  the  said  college  to  discover 
whether  or  not  the  interest  derived  from  the  fund  realized  from  the  sale  of 
the  land  script  fund  has  been  duly  expended  in  accordance  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  said  act  of  Congress  above  recited. 

''  Thirdly.  To  inquire  how  the  several  appropriations  made  b}-  the  sevei-al 
acts  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  to  said  college  have  been  expended. 

"  Fourthly.  To  examine  into  all  the  funds  received  by  said  college, 
whether  from  individuals'  contributions  or  receipts  of  students,  and  ascer- 
tain if  they  have  been  honestly  appropriated  and  accounted  for. 

"  Fifthly.  To  examine  the  experimental  farms,  and  ascertain  the  amount 
of  income  derived  therefrom,  and  of  funds  appropriated  to  each  out  of  the 
general  fund,  their  usefulness  as  such,  and  whether  the  funds  appropriated 
to  each  have  been  honestly  appropriated  or  expended." 

The  investigation  thus  outlined  covers  a  very  extensive  field,  and  while 
some  portion  of  the  testimony  offered  to  j^our  committee  was  irrelevant 
and  inconclusive,  they  believe  they  have  embraced  in  their  inquiry  every 
important  phase  of  the  subject ;  and  it  is  due  to  the  authorities  of  the  col- 
lege to  say  not  only  that  they  have  placed  before  the  committee  every  docu 
ment  or  other  source  of  information  within  their  control,  but  especially 
that  the  careful  and  business-like  manner  in  which  the  accounts  of  the  col- 
lege have  been  kept  greatly  facilitated  our  inquiries. 

I.    The  Educatioual  Department. 

Adopting,  for  convenience,  the  order  of  investigation  suggested  by  the 
resolution  quoted  above,  the  first  branch  of  our  inquiry  is,  whether  the 
present  management  of  the  college  is  in  compliance  with  the  requirement 
of  Congress  and  the  Legislature  of  this  State  in  relation  thereto.  For 
purposes  of  reference,  these  acts  are  given  in  full  in  the  appendix  to  this 
report,  but  the  sections  most  strictly  pertinent  to  this  investigation  are 
here  quoted,  as  follows : 

1.  Act  of  Congress,  approved  July  2,  1862  : 

"  Section  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted^  That  all  moneys  derived  from 
the  sale  of  the  lands  aforesaid  b}^  the  States  to  which  the  lands  are  appor- 
tioned, and  from  the  sales  of  land  scrip  hereinbefore  provided  for,  shall  be 
invested  in  stocks  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  States,  or  some  other 
safe  stocks,  yielding  not  less  than  five  per  centum  upon  the  par  value  of 
said  stocks,  and  that  the  moneys  so  invested  shall  constitute  a  perpetual 
fund,  the  capital  of  which  shall  remain  forever  undiminished,  (except  so  far 
as  may  be  provided  in  section  fifth  of  this  act,)  and  the  interest  of  which 
shall  be  inviolably  appropriated  by  each  State,  which  may  take  and  claim 
the  benefit  of  this  act,  to  the  endowment,  support,  and  maintenance  of  at 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  5 

least  one  college  where  the  leading  object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other 
scientific  and  classical  studies,  and  including  militar}'  tactics,  to  teach  snch 
branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in 
such  manner  as  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  may  respectively  prescribe, 
in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  in  life." 

2.  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  approved  April  1,  1863  : 

"  Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  GommonueiUh  of  PennHylvnnia  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same.  That  the  act  of  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  passed  the  second  day  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two,  entitled  'An  act  donating  lands  to  the  several  States 
and  Territories  which  may  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture 
and  the  mechanic  arts,'  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  accepted  by  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  with  all  its  provisions  and  conditions,  and  the  faith  of  the 
State  is  hereby  pledged  to  carry  the  same  into  effect."         *         *         * 

"  Section  4.  That,  until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  Legislature  of  Penn- 
sylvania, the  annual  interest  accruing  from  any  investment  of  the  funds 
acquired  under  the  said  act  of  Congress  is  hereby  appropriated,  and  the 
said  commissioners  are  directed  to  pay  the  same  to  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege of  Pennsylvania  for  the  endowment,  support,  and  maintenance  of  said 
institution,  which  college  is  now  in  full  and  successful  operation,  and  where 
the  leading  object  is,  without  excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies, 
and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  re- 
lated to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts." 

It  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the  language  of  the  act  of  Congress  is  sufl3- 
ciently  comprehensive  to  embrace  every  department  of  instruction,  so  far 
at  least  as  not  to  exclude  any  branch  of  study  from  the  institutions  for 
which  it  makes  provision.  The  controlling  requirements  of  the  act  are  : 
(1.)  That  a  college  shall  be  established.  (2.)  That  its  course  of  instruction 
shall  include  "  military  tactics."  (3.)  That  it  shall  not  exclude  classical  and 
scientific  studies  in  general.  (4.)  That  it  shall  aim  to  promote  the  liberal 
and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  in  life ;  and  that,  to  this  end,  (5,)  its  leading  object  shall  be  "  to 
teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  me- 
chanic arts." 

By  section  one  of  the  act  of  April  1,  1863,  the  State  of  Pennsylvania 
accepted  the  above-quoted  act  of  Congress,  "  with  all  its  provisions  and 
conditions;"  and  as  if  to  give  its  acceptance  the  highest  possible  sanction, 
added ,"  the  faith  of  the  State  is  hereby  pledged  to  carry  the  same  into 
effect."  By  section  four  of  the  act,  the  interest  of  the  funds  thus  acquired 
under  the  said  act  of  Congress  was  appropriated  to  the  endowment,  sup- 
port and  maintenance  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
express  ground  that  it  was  alread}^  in  operation,  and  so  organized  as  to 
fulfill  the  requirement  of  the  United  States  laws.  Neither  this  nor  any 
subsequent  laws  of  the  State  made  any  modification  of,  or  addition  to,  the 
requirements  of  the  law  of  Congress,  except  as  to  the  maintenance  of  three 
experimental  farms,  a  subject  that  will  be  considered  later.  In  order  to 
ascertain  whether  the  management  of  the  State  College  complies  with  the 


6  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

requirement  of  these  several  laws,  the  committee  made  a  careful  examination 
of  its  courses  of  study  and  its  methods  of  work,  both  as  they  now  exist  and 
as  they  have  been  in  operation  since  the  passage  of  the  laws  referred  to. 
The  institution  was  opened  to  students,  as  is  well  known,  in  the  year  18'>9, 
under  a  charter  granted  four  years  earlier.  It  was  originally  called  the 
Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  a  name  which  originated,  as  is 
stated  in  one  of  its  early  reports,  "  partly  in  a  feeling  that  the  farmers 
might  be  prejudiced  against  the  word  '  co!lege  '  as  that  of  a  place  where 
boys  only  contracted  idle  habits,  and  partly  with  the  idea  of  founding  a 
small  institution,  with  a  limited  course  of  instruction,  similar  to  the  agri- 
cultural schools  of  Europe,  which  are  subordinate  to  and  less  thorough  than 
the  agricultural  colleges  there.  Bat  the  school,  on  being  organized,  adopted 
a  course  of  instruction  in  mathematics  and  the  natural  sciences  more  exten- 
sive than  that  in  any  agricultual  college  in  Europe,  and  a  correspondingly 
longer  time  was  devoted  to  study  and  required  for  graduating.  Its  organi- 
zation had  been  upon  a  collegiate  basis  from  the  beginning,  and  the  trustees 
only  awaited  the  time  in  which  they  would  be  able  to  complete  its  buildings 
and  change  its  name."  The  name  was  accordingly  changed,  in  1862,  to  the 
Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  1874,  the  Legislature  having. previously  appropriated  the  proceeds  of 
the  National  land  grant  to  the  institution,  and  the  act  of  Congress,  as  has 
been  shown,  requiring  the  recognition  of  the  mechanic  arts  equally  with 
agriculture  in  the  course  of  study,  and  not  excluding  other  studies,  the 
name  was  again  changed  to  correspond  to  the  wider  range  of  subjects,  and 
has  since  been  known  as  the  PennsylA^ania  State  College.  The  committee 
find  that  the  courses  of  study  have,  from  time  to  time,  been  changed  to 
meet  the  changing  requirements  of  law  or  of  public  opinion ;  but,  in  its 
earlier  years,  the  subject  of  agriculture,  both  theoretical  and  applied,  al- 
ways held  a  prominent  place,  while  other  subjects  were  included  in  the  in- 
terest of  a  broader  culture.  We  find,  for  example,  the  earliest  printed 
courses  of  study  provide  instruction  in  political  and  social,  mental  and 
moral  science,  astronomy,  the  higher  mathematics,  and  other  advanced 
branches  of  learning.  The  courses  of  study  now  in  full  operation  are  by 
far  more  extended  and  complete  than  at  any  previous  period  of  the  history 
of  the  college,  and  seem  to  comply,  in  the  fullest  sense,  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  laws  of  Congress  and  of  this  State.  They  include  two  gen- 
eral courses  :  One  in  general  science,  the  other  in  the  ancient  classics  ;  and 
four  technical  courses,  viz :  Agriculture,  chemistry  and  physics,  natural 
history,  and  civil  engineering. 

These  courses  cover  a  period  of  four  years  each,  and,  in  addition,  the  col- 
lege provides  for  the  students  who  are  unable  for  any  reason  to  take  a  full 
course,  a  short  special  course  of  two  years  in  agriculture,  and  a  similar 
course  in  chemistry.  Special  students  are  also  admitted  for  such  length 
of  time,  and  in  such  branches  of  study  as  they  may  elect,  and  be  qualified 
to  pursue.  Military  tactics  are  regularly  taught,  and  all  students,  unless 
excused  on  account  of  physical  disability  or  conscientious  scruples,  are  re- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  X 

quired  to  drill,  A  course  of  farmers'  lectures  are  delivered  every  year, 
which  are  free  to  the  public.  In  connection  with  the  usual  studies  of  the 
class-room,  we  find  that  there  is  carried  on  a  very  extensive  and  progres- 
sive system  of  practical  training  in  the  applications  of  knowledge,  which, 
for  extent  and  thoroughness,  is  equaled  by  few,  if  any  institutions,  of 
which  we  have  information.  The  student  in  agriculture,  for  example,  goes 
into  the  laboratory  until  he  becomes  a  well-trained  analyst,  and  into  the 
field  and  barn  to  observe  processes  or  to  conduct  investigations.  The  stu- 
dent in  horticulture  works  in  the  gardens  and  vineyards.  The  student  in 
mechanic  arts  goes  into  the  shop,  and  is  trained  in  the  use  of  tools,  as  well 
as  the  principles  of  mechanics.  The  student  in  civil  engineering  acquires 
a  knowelge  of  the  instruments  and  the  methods  of  his  profession  by  actual 
work  in  the  field;  and  similarly,  in  every  department  that  admits  of  it, 
subjects  are  taught  with  constant  reference  to  their  practical  application  in 
the  various  industries  of  life.  When  the  institution  was  first  opened  to 
students,  a  considerable  amount  of  manual  labor  was  required  of  all.  This 
system  was  abandoned  after  a  trial  of  several  years,  and  the  practical  work 
now  required  is  regarded  as  educational,  rather  than  a  matter  of  manual 
labor,  though  it  evidently  serves  the  two  important  ends  of  giving  physical 
exercise  and  skill  in  manipulation.  Whether  the  abandonment  of  compul- 
sory manual  labor  was  wise  or  unwise,  the  committee  did  not  feel  called 
upon  to  decide.  As  it  is  not  required  by  any  existing  law  of  the  United 
States  or  of  this  State,  it  would  seem  to  be  a  matter  wholly  within  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  trustees. 

But,  except  in  this  particular,  (about  which  there  may  exist  natural  differ- 
ences of  opinion.)  we  are  compelled  to  say,  in  simple  accordance  with  the 
facts  as  we  find  them,  that  the  State  college  is  furnishing  a  liberal  and 
practical  education  for  the  industrial  classes,  and  that  its  leading  object  is 
to  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts.  The  chemical  laboratories  especially  are  in  a  most  admir- 
able condition  of  completeness  and  eflflciency.  The  physical  laboratory 
has  a  fine  (though  still  inadequate)  collection  of  the  most  approved  appa- 
ratus of  instruction ;  and  the  other  departments  of  instruction  relating 
directly  to  the  industries  of  life,  such  as  civil  engineering,  mechanic  arts, 
&c.,  have  received  from  the  trustees  small  annual  appropriations  which 
have  equipped  them  fairly  for  the  requirements  of  ordinary  teaching. 
There  is  great  need,  however,  in  all  these  departments,  and  in  the  library, 
for  a  large  immediate  outlay  which  the  means  at  the  command  of  the  trus- 
tees does  not  enable  them  to  make.  Of  the  twelve  (12)  professors  and 
assistants  now  constituting  the  teaching  force  in  the  college  departments, 
only  two  give  instruction  in  the  classics  ;  one  of  them,  also,,  has  charge  of 
English  literature,  and  other  branches  which  necessarily  enter  into  every 
course  of  liberal  education.  In  the  same  connection  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  appropriations  made  by  the  trustees  for  the  purchase  of  apparatus 
and  appliances  for  the  several  class-rooms  have  been  almost  exclusively  for 
the  industrial  departments.     Out  of  the  appropriations  of  this  kind,  be- 


8  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

tween  the  j'ears  1866  and  1881,  aggregating  nearly  six  thousand,  ($6,000,) 
less  than  one  hundred  dollars  was  given  to  the  classical  department,  and 
that  was  for  the  purchase  of  maps. 

With  regard  to  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  students  of  the  institu- 
tion, the  testimony  before  the  committee  is  so  explicit,  and  so  nearly  unani- 
mous, that  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  convinced  by  it,  and  without  attribut- 
ing to  any  of  the  witnesses  a  conscious  purpose  to  misrepresent  the  facts, 
it  is  easy  to  see  to  what  an  extent  personal  disappointments  and  resent- 
ments colored  the  views  of  the  two  individuals  who  alone  gave  disparaging 
testimony.  The  statements  of  present  and  former  students,  and  parents 
of  students,  of  professors,  citizens  of  the  neighborhood,  and  of  officials  who 
now  are,  and  for  many  years  have  been,  engaged  in  the  administration  of 
the  law  in  Centre  county,  all  unite  in  contradicting  the  generall}"^  vague 
assertions  of  the  individuals  referred  to.  Their  unqualified  testimony  is, 
that  the  students  of  the  State  college  are  as  manly  and  honorable  in  their 
conduct,  and  as  correct  in  their  morals,  as  anj^  similar  body  of  young  men 
in  any  institution  in  the  State  or  the  country.  Several  of  the  witnesses  go 
further,  and  express  their  strong  conviction,  based  upon  observation  and 
knowledge,  that  the  standard  of  these  students  in  these  respects  is  excep- 
tionally high.  ' 

II.  Fiuaucial  Management. 

The  next  three  branches  of  inquiry  which  the  committee  proposed  to  in- 
vestigate relate  to  the  financial  management  of  the  institution ;  the  use 
made  of  the  various  funds  placed  at  its  disposal,  either  from  the  proceeds 
of  the  United  States  land  grant,  the  appropriations  made  by  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  or  the  contributions  of  individuals  and  receipts  from  stu- 
dents, and  ascertain  if  they  have  been  honestly  appropriated. 

On  this  important  point  it  is  extremely  gratifying  to  find  that  the  testi- 
mony is  absolutel}'  unanimous.  Whatever  differences  of  judgment  have 
been  expressed  by  witness  respecting  the  general  management  and  policy 
of  the  institution,  all,  without  exception,  when  questioned  have  expressed 
the  fullest  confidence  in  the  perfect  integrity  with  which  all  the  funds  have 
been  expended  and  accounted  for.  Considering  the  well-known  financial 
embarrassments  of  the  institution  in  its  earlier  days,  and  the  extent  of  the 
interests  involved,  it  is  a  matter  of  just  pride  to  find  that  no  shadow  of 
suspicion  of  dishonesty  rests  upon  the  administration  of  this  great  public 
trust.  This  is  no  more  than  was  to  have  been  expected  from  the  known 
character  of  the  many  eminent  citizens  of  the  State  who  have  constituted 
the  board  of  trustees  ;  but  it  is  none  the  less  satisfactory  and  none  the  less 
due  to  them  and  to  the  State  to  record  the  fact. 

The  diflferent  sources  of  income,  the  amounts  received  from  each,  and  the 
various  uses  to  which  they  have  been  applied,  are  given  in  detail,  in  the 
full  and  elaborate  summaries  from  the  books  of  the  college,  which  were  fur- 
nished to  the  committee  by  Professor  Hamilton,  the  business  manager,  and 
which  accompany  this  report.     A  brief  summary  is  all  that  is  required 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  9 

here.  The  total  proceeds  realized  by  the  State  from  the  land  scrip  were 
$439,186  80;  the  sum  of  $115,136  having  come  from  sales  under  the  acts 
of  1863  and  1866,  and  $288,186  80  from  sales  under  the  act  of  1867.  The 
sales  of  scrip  were  made  under  the  direction  of  the  Legislature,  by  a  State 
commission  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  the  income,  as  it  accrued,  ap- 
propriated to  the  State  College.  In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  sec- 
tion five  of  the  act  of  Congress,  the  sum  of  $43,886  50  (slightly  less  than 
the  ten  per  cent,  authorized)  was  expended  in  the  purchase  of  three  experi-. 
mental  farms,  leaving  $395,330  30  to  be  productively  invested. 

B}^  the  act  of  April  3,  1872,  the  Legislature,  in  partial  consideration  of 
the  small  price  received  from  the  land  scrip,  directed  the  issue  of  a  single 
bond  of  the  Commonwealth  for  the  sum  $500,000,  bearing  interest  at  six 
per  cent.,  running  fifty  years  from  date,  and  the  interest  meanwhile  to  be 
paid  to  the  State  college.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  statement 
that  the  proceeds  of  the  land  grant  on  which  the  college  is  now  receiving 
interest  is  $395,330  30.  The  remainder  of  the  $500,000  was  made  up  of 
$14,960  20  premium  on  the  securities  in  which  the  last-mentioned  amount 
had  been  invested,  $89,709  50  contributed  by  the  State.  The  income  of 
the  last  two  amounts,  aggregating  $104,669  75,  constitutes  the  only  fund 
on  which  the  college  can  draw  for  repairs,  improvements,  new  construction, 
and  all  other  necessary  demands  of  a  similar  kind.  The  income  from  the 
land-grant  fund  must  be  used,  under  the  act  of  Congress,  for  strictly  edu- 
cational purposes.  The  total  amount  of  this  income,  from  1866  to  18S1, 
we  find  to  have  been  $343,757  12  ;  while  the  amount  actually  expended  for 
the  support  and  maintenance  of  the  college  during  the  same  period  was 
$458,676  82.  Of  the  last-named  sum  $57,040  was  devoted  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  experimental  farm,  which,  under  the  act  of  Congress,  seemed 
to  be  properly  regarded  as  a  point  of  the  educational  equipment  of  the  insti- 
tution. It  is  evident,  therefore,  whether  this  item  be  deducted  or  not,  that 
not  only  the  income  from  the  land-grant  fund  but  a  large  sum  in  addition, 
has  been  legitimately  expended  in  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the 
United  States  law.  The  remaining  contributions  of  the  State  to  this  col- 
lege have  been  as  follows:  Fifty  thousand  dollars  in  1859  and  $49,900  in 
1861,  for  the  erection  of  buildings;  $5,000  in  1870  for  building  on  the 
Eastern  Experimental  farm,  and  $80,000  in  1878  for  the  removal  of  a  mort- 
gage debt  upon  the  property.  This  debt  has  been  incurred  owing  to  the 
great  increase  in  the  cost  of  building  occasioned  by  the  war,  and  after  the 
original  contractors  had  been  forced  to  abandon  their  undertaking.  We 
find  no  question  in  any  quarter  that  the  above-named  appropriations  were 
applied  to  the  uses  for  which  they  were  intended.  * 

Other  donations  to  the  college,  chiefly  by  the  State  Agricultural  Society 
and  citizens  who  were  interested  in  starting  it,  have  amounted  to  $154,288. 
On  summarizing  these  statements,  it  appears  that  the  principal  sum  con- 
tributed to  the  college,  aside  from  the  endowment  fund,  amounts  to  a  total 
of  $383,071  50,  as  follows  :  Appropriated  by  the  State,  $184,900  ;  expended 
for  experimental  farms,  $43,886  50 ;    contributed  from  private  sources, 


10  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

$154,285,  and  the  college  has  to  show  for  this,  farms,  buildings,  and  appa- 
ratus, regularly,  and,  as  we  believe,  fairly  inventoried  at  $451,615  77. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  at  greater  length  on  this  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  details  are  given  in  full  in  the  accompanying  papers,  and  we 
believe  that  no  impartial  mind,  on  examining  them,  can  fail  to  reach  the 
same  conclusion,  that  the  financial  trusts  of  the  institution  have  been  hon- 
estly and  judiciously  administered. 

m.  The  Experimental  Farms, 

The  questions  connected  with  the  conduct  of  the  experimental  farms, 
this  committee  found  in  some  respects  to  be  more  perplexing  than  any 
others  in  the  course  of  their  inquiry.  It  is  clear,  from  the  testimony,  that 
these  farms  have  conducted  many  valuable  experiments,  and  served  a  use- 
ful purpose,  though  they  have  come  short  of  the  anticipations  which  were 
indulged  in  at  the  time  provision  was  made  for  them.  This  result  may  be 
accounted  for  partly  on  the  ground  of  insufficient  appropriations  from  the 
college  funds,  and  partly  from  the  fact  that  the  trustees,  in  order  appa- 
rently to  gratify  local  sentiment,  entrusted  the  general  management  of  one 
of  the  farms  almost  entirely  to  a  committee  of  gentlemen  in  its  neighbor- 
hood. The  purpose  of  the  arrangement  seems  to  have  been  entirely  hon- 
orable to  both  parties.  The  college  authorities  were  willing  to  confide 
their  plans  to  the  scrutiny  and  control  of  a  body  who  had  nothing  but 
pride  or  public  spirit  to  stimulate  and  reward  their  efforts,  and  the  local 
committee  was  willing  to  perform  an  unrequited  public  service.  But 
divided  responsibility  could  hardly  fail  to  result  in  divided  counsels ;  and 
divided  counsels  resulted,  as  might  naturally  have  been  expected,  in  dimin- 
ished efficiency  and  something  of  mutual  criticism.  We  can  find,  however, 
no  reason  to  doubt  thp,t  while  larger  appropriations  would  have  added  to 
the  usefulness  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  farms,  the  trustees  of  the  col- 
lege have  in  good  faith  expended  in  that  direction  fully  as  much  as  their 
income  would  justify,  considering  the  large  and  growing  needs  of  the  de- 
partments of  instruction  in  the  college. 

The  amount  appropriated  to  the  Eastern  farm,  in  Chester  county,  from 
1869  to  1881  is  $18,800 ;  'to  the  Western  farm,  in  Indiana  county,  $16,050, 
and  to  the  Central  farm,  near  the  college,  $14,250.  In  our  opinion  it  would 
be  unjust  to  the  college,  as  an  institution  of  higher  education,  to  cripple  its 
resources  by  taking  from  the  funds  now  at  its  disposal  any  larger  appro- 
priations to  the  farms  than  have  heretofore  been  made ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  evident  that  they  can  never  be  made  to  meet  public  expectation 
without  a  qpuch  larger  expenditure.  If  one  or  both  of  the  outlying  farms 
are  to  be  retained,  we  believe  it  would  be  a  sound  and  wise  policy  for  the 
State  to  make  a  fair  annual  appropriation  to  the  maintenance  of  them.  But 
it  is  extremely  doubtful,  in  the  light  of  recent  agricultural  knowledge, 
whether  three  or  a  dozen  farms  are  enough  better  than  one  for  the  purposes 
of  scientific  investigation  to  compensate  for  the  increased  expense.  For 
the  purposes  of  practical  experimentation,  the  more  farms  the  better;  but 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  11 

it  seems  to  us  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  end  could  be  nearly  as 
well  and  much  more  cheaply  reached  by  a  s^^stem  of  voluntary  cooperation 
among  individual  farmers,  carrying  on  their  operations  and  working  out 
their  experiments  in  correspondence  with  the  college,  and  to  some  extent 
under  its  direction.  The  tendency  of  opinion  as  to  the  best  means  of  ad- 
vancing agricultural  knowledge  for  practical  use  seems  to  have  undergone 
an  important  change  within  a  comparatively  recent  period.  Formerly  it 
was  thought  that  a  sufficiently  extended  range  of  field  experimentation 
would  jield  the  results  needed  as  a  guide  in  successful  farming.  But  agri- 
culture, like  every  other  branch  of  applied  science,  has  been  influenced  by 
the  rapid  and  wonderful  advance  in  every  department  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge during  the  last  twenty-five  years ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  investi- 
gations of  the  laboratory  have  come  to  occupy  a  far  more  important  rela- 
tion to  the  practice  of  the  farming  community  than  ever  before.  A  large 
number  of  agricultural  experiment  stations  have  accordingly  been  already 
established  in  Europe  for  the  sole  purpose  of  conducting  such  investiga- 
tions, and  the  number  is  rapidly  increasing.  In  this  country  five  States — 
Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jerse}',  North  Carolina,  and  Ohio — have  es- 
tablished such  experiment  stations,  and  movements  in  the  same  direction 
are  on  foot  in  other  States.  In  our  own  there  are  indications  of  a  wide- 
spread public  interest  in  the  matter,  and  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
at  its  last  meeting,  unanimously  adopted  a  resolution  urging  the  establish- 
ment of  such  a  station  "  at  the  earliest  practicable  time."  In  view  of  the 
facts  and  considerations. suggested,  we -are  of  the  opinion  that  the  trustees 
of  the  college  should  be  authorized,  in  case  they  should  deem  it  advisable, 
to  sell  the  two  outlying  experimental  farms,  and  required  to  apply  the  in- 
come from  the  fund  thus  obtained  to  the  support  of  an  experiment  sta- 
tion of  the  kind  referred  to.  It  would,  then,  be  necessary  for  the  Legisla- 
ture to  make  an  additional  annual  appropriation  in  order  to  enable  the 
station  to  prosecute  work  of  equal  scope  and  extent  with  that  done  by 
similar  stations  in  the  four  States  mentioned.  If,  as  the  course  of  legisla- 
tion indicates,  it  is  to  be  a  part  of  the  established  policy  of  the  State  to 
lend  its  aid  to  the  advancement  of  agricultural  knowledge  and  practice,  it 
would  seem  to  be  the  dictate  of  sound  policy  to  concentrate  its  experiments 
and  efforts,  both  in  the  interest  of  economy,  efficiency,  and  ease  of  control. 
The  State  CoUege  has  already  in  use  a  large  part  of  the  appliances  and 
equipment  necessary  for  the  successful  maintenance  of  an  experiment  sta- 
tion, and  is  now  doing  a  larger  amount  of  valuable  work  in  that  direction 
than  at  any  previous  period  of  its  history,  and  is  now  publishing  its  re- 
sults in  a  series  of  popular  bulletins. 

IV.    Couclusious  and  Recommendations. 

The  fact  remains,  notwithstanding  the  condition  of  things  above  stated, 
that  the  college  for  a  long  time  has  been  subject  to  an  amount  of  public 
criticism,  which  has  resulted  in  a  wide-spread  distrust,  if  not  hostility, 
towards  it,  and  the  committee  have  constantly  directed  their  inquiries  with 


12  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

a  view  to  ascertaining  its  grounds,  and,  if  possible,  the  proper  remedy  for 
it.  Their  conclusions  haA'e  been  presented,  in  part,  in  former  pages  of 
this  report.  But  a  few  other  points  require  fui'ther  notice.  It  is  obvious 
to  us,  in  the  first  place,  that  much,  if  not  most,  of  the  feeling  referred 
to,  grew  out  of  a  condition  of  things  which  no  longer  exist.  When  the 
college  was  founded,  several  attempts  had  been  made,  in  various  parts 
of  the  country,  to  establish  schools  or  colleges  for  instruction  in  agri- 
culture, but  not  one  of  them  had  been  successful.  Many  citizens  of  Penn- 
sylvania, nevertheless,  had  hopes  that  the  same  experiment  here  would  re- 
sult differently  ;  and  many  of  them  contributed  liberally  of  their  time  and 
means  to  promote  it.  TJie  enthusiasm  of  the  few  easily  communicated 
itself  to  the  many,  and  the  public  mind  became  possessed  of  vague  and 
extravagant  expectations  as  to  what  such  an  institution  might  be  expected 
to  accomplish.  It  oeemed  to  be  thought  that  a  few  months  of  "  schooling  " 
in  an  agricultural  institution  would  convert  boys  who  lacked  the  elements 
of  a  sound  English  education  into  skilled  and  scientific  farmers.  Such 
expectations  were  foredoomed  to  disappointment.  The  successful  farmer 
must  bring  to  the  practice  of  his  art  observation,  insight,  judgment,  and 
skill,  which  can  come  only  from  extended  experience ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  the  student  who  desires  to  become  familiar  with  the  sciences  on  which 
agriculture  rests,  must  pursue  a  long  and  thorough  course  of  training. 
The  college  soon  found  that,  while  many  were  willing  to  come  to  it,  and 
contribute  their  labor  for  a  time  in  compensation  for  their  education,  few 
came  to  pursue  the  necessary  course  of  higher  instruction.  It  was  also 
believed  at  the  outset  that  the  labor  of  students  could  be  so  employed  as 
to  make  it  remunerative,  and  the  total  charge  per  3-ear  for  all  expenses  of 
attendance  was  placed  at  the  low  figure  of  one  hundred  dollars.  It  was 
soon  found,  however,  that  it  was  impossible  to  organize  the  labor  of  any 
considerable  number  of  students  on  a  limited  number  of  acres  in  such  a 
way  as  to  avoid  serious  loss.  This  would  be  true  even  in  skilled  labor, 
much  more  the  labor  of  untrained  boys.  The  institution  ran  rapidly  and 
largely  into  debt,  and  the  trustees  were  soon  compelled  to  double  the  an- 
nual charge.  The  authorities  of  the  college  soon  became  satisfied,  also, 
that  it  was  impossible  to  combine  a  systematic  course  of  compulsory  labor 
in  case  of  a  large  number  of  students  with  a  course  of  advanced  education. 
Students  who  sought  the  latter  preferred  to  go  to  institutions  where  the 
former  was  not  required  ;  while  those  who  desired  the  former  were  generally 
unable  or  unwilling  to  remain  long  enough  in  the  college  to  secure  the  lat- 
ter. The  trustees,  accordingly,  were  compelled  to  choose  between  a  com- 
paratively low  standard  of  education,  combined  with  systematic  labor,  (in- 
cluding, as  it  did,  every  kind  of  severe  and  exhausting  effort,)  and  a  sj'stem 
which  should  furnish  an  education  of  much  higher  type,  with  only  so  much 
labor  as  was  needed  to  illustrate  the  application  of  principles.  The  latter 
was  adopted.  The  experiment  might  have  been  longer  continued,  hUd  not 
the  act  of  Congress  of  1862  clearly  pointed  in  the  direction  which  experi- 
ence had  already  shown  to  be  the  wise  one.     But  with  that  act  as  a  binding 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  13 

part  of  their  charter,  they  were  obliged  to  provide  a  liberal  education,  as 
far  as  possible,  for  all  the  industrial  classes,  "  in  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  in  life."  But  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  ascertain,  the  proportion 
of  students  who  go  back  to  the  farm  now  is  as  great  as  when  the  design  of 
the  institution  was  more  exclusively  agricultural. 

Young  men,  whether  graduates  of  a  college  or  not,  are  likely  to  follow 
those  callings  for  which  they  are  best  adapted,  or  in  which  the  prizes  in 
life  seem  most  easily  within  reach ;  and  the  avenues  to  successful  efforts 
are  open  in  so  many  directions  in  our  time  that  all  cannot  be  expected  to 
choose  the  same  pursuits.  Many  educated  young  men  who  would  be  glad 
to  engage  in  farming  are  prevented  for  want  of  ready  capital,  which  is  not 
so  much  required  for  beginning  in  other  employments,  and  even  in  cases 
where  the  necessary  capital  can  be  procured,  many  prefer  the  immediate 
rewards  offered  elsewhere  to  the  slow,  but  more  substantial  gains  of  agri- 
culture. So  long  as  the  State  college  provides  every  needed  facility  for 
acquiring  a  thorough  agricultural  education,  there  would  seem  to  be  little 
justice  in  attempting  to  make  it  responsible  for  the  failure  of  students  to 
avail  themselves  of  its  advantages.  It  would  be  equally  unjust  to  measure 
the  benefit  of  such  an  institution  by  the  number  of  its  graduates  alone. 
While  the  total  number  of  its  graduates,  up  to  1881,  was  only  one  hundred 
and  nine,  the  number  of  its  stduents  for  the  same  period  was  nearly  one 
thousand  five  hundred,  and  these,  as  far  as  the  records  show,  have  gone 
largely  into  industrial  pursuits,  rather  than  the  so-called  professions. 

The  location  of  the  college  has  sometimes  been  urged  against  it,  and  it 
is  probably  true  that  some  disadvantage  has  heretofore  arisen  from  that 
cause  ;  but  the  means  of  communication  with  it  have  greatly  improved 
since  its;  establishment,  and  there  is  now  good  prospect  that  a  railroad  will 
soon  run  directly  to  it.  With  its  facilities  for  easy  access  improved,  the  re- 
markable beauty  of  its  situation,  the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  the  freedom  of 
its  surroundings  from  temptations  to  immorality  and  extravagance,  cannot 
fail  to  secure  for  it  the  support  and  patronage  of  the  people  of  the  State. 

The  attention  of  the  committee  was  called  by  one  of  the  witnesses  to 
the  condition  of  Cornell  University  and  the  Illinois  Industrial  University, 
as  contrasted  with  that  of  the  State  College,  for  the  purpose  of  indicating 
that  the  latter  has  been  mismanaged.  On  inquiry,  we  find  that  the  cases 
are  in  no  respect  parallel.  In  New  York,  as  is  well  known,  a  philanthropic 
citizen,  the  late  Ezra  Cornell,  bought  the  entire  land  scrip  from  the  State, 
paying  the  market  price  for  it,  and  agreeing  to  locate  and  hold  it,  and  to 
give  the  university  the  benefit  of  its  advance  in  price.  The  result  is,  that 
all  the  lands  sold  have  brought  high  figures  ;  a  considerable  amount  is  still 
unsold,  and  the  endowment  of  the  university  from  that  source  alone  will 
be  from  $3,000,000  to  $4,000,000.  In  Illinois,  the  county  of  Champaign, 
in  order  to  secure  the  location  of  the  university,  gave  ample  farms, 
amounting  to  several  hundred  acres,  buildings  ready  for  occupancy,  and 
$200,000  in  bonds,  thus  providing  means  for  the  immediate  needs  of  a  new 
and  unorganized  institution,  and  enabling  the  university  to  locate  its  lands 


14  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

advantageously,  and  hold  them  (as  it  did)  for  an  advance  of  price.  Be- 
sides this,  the  Legislature  has,  within  the  few  years  since  its  establishment, 
(1867,)  made  appropriations  from  the  treasury,  for  new  buildings,  appara- 
tus, and  equipments,  amounting  to  about  $400,000. 

The  State  of  Pennsylvania  had  no  such  good  fortune.  Her  landscrip 
amounted  to  seven  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  acres,  and  it  was  vindoubt- 
edly  the  expectation  of  Congress  that  the  lands  would  bring  to  the  State 
at  least  the  minimum  market  rate  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre.  Had  this  been  the  case  the  endowment  of  a  State  from  that  source 
alone  would  have  been  nearly  a  million  dollars.  But  the  large  amount  of 
scrip  thrown  upon  the  market  at  once  so  reduced  the  price  that  several  of 
the  States — our  own  among  them — realized  less  than  sixty  cents  an  acre 
from  the  sales.  We  do  not  pass  an  opinion  on  others ;  but  we  believe  it 
to  be  the  duty  of  this  Commonwealth,  having  accepted  the  deed  of  gift 
from  the  United  States  "wiih  all  its  conditions  and  provisions,"  and  having 
"pledged  its  faith  to  carry  the  same  into  eflfect,"  to  restore  the  land-grant 
fund  to  the  amount  originally  intended  by  Congress.  The  need  of  educa- 
tion for  the  industrial  classes  was  never  so  great  as  now.  The  vast  mining, 
manufacturing,  and  agricultural  resources  and  activities  of  the  State  de- 
mand for  their  most  rapid  and  economical  development  all  the  aid  that  can 
be  derived  from  the  most  advanced  teachings  of  science,  and  it  seems  not 
too  much  to  expect  that  a  State  famous  for  the  extent  and  wisdom  of  her 
charitable  and  reformatory  agencies  should  make  full  and  even  generous 
provision  for  the  higher  education  of  her  strong  and  aspiring  youth.  In 
conclusion,  the  result  of  a  most  careful  and  painstaking  examination  has 
fully  convinced  us  that  the  State  college  is  in  good  faith  fulfilling  the  trusts 
committed  to  it  by  the  State,  and  that  much  of  the  misconception  respect- 
ing it  arises  from  a  lack  of  easily  obtainable  information.  We  believe  it  has 
passed  its  worst  days.  Its  courses  of  study,  in  the  opinion  of  experts,  are 
well  organized ;  its  facilities  good,  and  in  some  particulars  unusuallv  com- 
plete ;  its  faculty  is  composed  of  competent,  and  many  of  them  highly  expe- 
rienced professors ;  and  whatever  mistakes  it  may  have  made  in  the  past,  the 
entire  spirit  and  work  of  the  institution,  as  now  organized  and  administered, 
are  directed  to  the  promotion  of  industrial  education. 

The  needs  of  such  an  institution  are  little  appreciated  by  the  public  gen- 
erally. Cornell  University  has  an  annual  income  of  about  $100, COO,  and 
Harvard  University  nearly  $100,000.  In  comparison  with  these  sums, the 
$30,000  of  the  State  college  is  but  a  mere  pittance,  which,  in  our  judgment, 
the  State  may  wisely  supplement.  The  college  has  been  carrying  a  floating 
debt  of  about  $50,000  for  many  years,  the  annual  interest  on  which  is 
a  considerable  draft  on  its  resources.  It  has  two  outlying  farms,  which 
involve  expense,  and  which  it  is  doubtful  if  any  such  institution  can  prop- 
erly manage  at  so  great  a  distance.  The  department  of  mechanic  arts  is  in 
need  of  a  more  commodious  building,  exclusively  devoted  to  its  use.  The 
chapel  is  no  longer  large  enough  to  accomodate  the  numbers  who  attend  on 
public  occasions,  and  a  new  and  sighth'  structure  is  greatly  needed. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  15 

These  immediate  needs  of  the  college  we  believe  it  would  be  a  sound  and 
wise  policy  for  the  State  to  supply.  Although  in  its  organization  a  private 
corporation,  it  is  in  every  proper  sense  the  child  of  the  State,  and  we  are 
strongl^^  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  time  has  come  when  the 
State  should  give  it  such  fostering  care  as  will  make  it  not  only  an  object  of 
just  pride,  but  a  source  of  immeasurable  benefit  to  our  sons  and  daughters. 
In  case  the  Legislature  should  adopt  the  line  of  policy  herein  proposed, 
it  might  be  thought  advisable  to  modify,  with  the  consent  of  the  corpora- 
tion, the  existing  constitution  of  the  board  of  trustees,  either  by  making 
it  more  largely  representative,  or  more  directly  amenable  to  the  control 
of  the  State  government. 

In  conclusion,  your  committee  would  most  respectfully  represent,  that 
that  a  re-organization  of  the  board  of  trustees  seems  imperatively  required 
if  the  purposes  of  the  State  college  are  to  be  realized  by  the  agricultural 
and  mechanical  classes  of  the  State,  to  the  extent  of  its  original  design. 
The  law  that  mdde  the  agricultural  societies  the  custodians  of  the  welfare 
of  this  school,  seemed  at  the  time  to  be  the  best  that  could  be  done  ;  but 
their  change  of  character  since  that  time  has  unfitted  them  for  this  respons- 
ible duty,  as  their  failure  to  participate  in  the  annual  meetings  clearly 
demonstrates.  By  the  same  law,  a  number  of  State  officials  were  made 
ex-officio  members  of  the  board  ;  a  duty  they  seem  to  have  overlooked,  as 
we  find  by  the  minutes  of  the  board,  their  presence  rarely,  if  ever,  noticed. 
It  has  also  been  suggested  and  strongly  urged  before  the  committee, 
that  if  the  Legislature  sees  fit  to  authorize  the  sale  of  the  experimental 
farms  that  an  Experiment  Station  should  be  established.  We  think  this  a 
good  suggestion,  and  would  recommend  the  subject  to  the  careful  considera- 
tion of  the  Legislature.     All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

AMOS  H.  MYLIN, 

Chairman. 
C.  T.  ALEXANDER, 
JOHN  C.  NEWMYER, 
GEO.  W.  HALL, 
WM.  B.  ROBERTS, 

Sub- Committee. 


II. 


acts  of  assembly  and  decrees  of  coukt 
relati:n"g  to  the  peis^jn^sylyajs^ia  state 

COLLEGE. 


An  Act  to  Incorporate  tine  Farmers'  HlKh  School  of  Pennsylvania. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  (Jommonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  there  be  and  is  hereby 
enacted,  and  is  established  at  the  place  which  shall  be  designated  by  the 
authorit}',  and  as  hereinafter  provided,  an  institution  fox  the  education  of 
youth  in  the  various  branches  of  science,  learning  and  practical  agriculture, 
as  they  are  connected  with  each  other,  by  the  name,  style  and  title  of  the 
"  Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsjdvania." 

Section  2.  That  the  said  institution  shall  be  under  the  management  and 
government  of  a  board  of  trustees,  thirteen  of  whom  shall  be  a  quorum, 
competent  to  perform  the  duties  hereinafter  authorized  and  required. 

Section  3,  That  the  president  and  vice  president  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  Agricultural  Society,  and  the  presidents  of  the  several  county  agri- 
cultural societies  which  shall  at  any  time  have  been  organized  more  than 
one  year,  shall  be  ex-officio  members  of,  and  constitute  the  board  of  trus- 
tees ;  Avhich  said  trustees,  and  their  successors  in  office,  are  hereb}'  enacted 
and  declared  to  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate  in  law,  with  perpetual  suc- 
cession, by  the  name,  style  and  title  of  the  "  Farmers'  High  School  of  Penn- 
sylvania ; "  by  which  name  and  title  the  said  trustees  and  their  successors 
shall  be  able  and  capable  in  law  to  take,  by  gift,  grant,  sale  or  conveyance, 
by  bequest,  devise  or  otherwise,  any  estate  in  any  lands,  tenements  and 
hereditaments,  goods,  chattels,  or  effects,  and  at  pleasure  to  alien  or  other- 
wise dispose  of  the  same  to  and  for  the  uses  and  purposes  of  the  said  insti- 
tution :  Provided,  however^  That  the  annual  income  of  the  said  estates  so 
held  shall  at  no  time  exceed  twenty-five  thousand  dollars ;  and  the  said 
corporation  shall,  b}"  the  same  name,  have  the  power  to  sue  and  be  sued, 
and  generally  to  do  and  transact  all  and  every  business  touching  or  concern- 
ing the  premises,  or  which  shall  be  necessarily  incidental  thereto,  and  to 
hold,  enjoy,  and  exercise  all  such  powers,  authorities,  and  jurisdiction,  as 
are  customary  in  the  colleges  within  this  Commonwealth. 

Section  4.  That  the  same  trustees  shall  cause  to  be  made  a  seal,  with 
such  devices  as  they  may  think  proper,  and  by  and  v/ith  which  all  the  deeds, 
diplomas,  certificates  and  acts  of  the  institution  shall  be  authenticated,  and 
they  may  at  their  pleasure  alter  the  same. 

2— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


18  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Section  5.  That  on  the  second  Thursday  of  June,  after  the  passage  of  this 
act,  the  board  of  trustees  who  are  hereby  appointed,  shall  meet  at  Harris- 
burg,  and  proceed  to  the  organization  of  the  institution  and  selection  of 
the  most  eligible  site  within  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  for  its  lo- 
cation, when  they  shall  purchase  or  obtain  by  gift,  grant  or  otherwise,  a 
tract  of  land  containing  at  least  two  hundred  acres,  upon  which  fhey  shall 
procure  such  improvements  and  alterations  to  be  made  as  will  make  it  an 
institution  properly  adapted  to  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  art  of  farm- 
ing, according  to  the  meaning  and  design  of  this  act ;  they  shall  select  and 
choose  a  principal  for  the  institution — who,  with  such  scientific  attainments 
and  capacity  to  teach,  as  the  board  shall  deem  necessary,  shall  be  a  good 
practical  farmer ;  he,  with  such  other  persons  as  shall  from  time  to  time 
be  employed  as  teachers,  shall  compose  the  faculty,  under  whose  control 
the  immediate  management  of  the  institution,  and  the  instruction  of  all  the 
youth  committed  to  its  care  shall  be,  subject,  however,  to  the  revision  and 
all  orders  of  the  board  of  trustees.  There  shall  be  a  quarterly  meeting  of 
the  board  of  trustses  at  the  institution,  and  as  much  oftener  as  shall  be 
necessary,  and  they  shall  determine.  The  board  shall  have  power  to  pass 
all  such  by-laws,  ordinances  and  rules  as  the  good  government  of  the  insti- 
tution shall  require,  and  therein  to  prescribe  what  shall  be  taught  to  and 
what  labor  performed  by  the  pupils;  and  generally  to  do  and  perform  all 
such  administrative  acts  as  are  usuallj^  performed  by  and  within  the  appro- 
priate duty  of  a  board  of  trustees,  and  shall,  by  a  secretary  of  their  ap- 
pointment, keep  a  minute  of  the  proceedings  and  action  of  the  board. 

Section  6.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  trustees  as  soon,  and 
as  often  as  the  exigencies  of  the  institution  shall  require,  in  addition  to 
the  principal,  to  employ  such  other  professors,  teachers  or  tutors  as  shall 
be  qualified  to  impart  to  pupils  unSer  their  charge  a  knowledge  of  the 
English  language,  grammar,  geography,  history,  mathematics,  chemistry 
and  such  other  branches  of  the  natural  and  exact  sciences  as  will  conduce 
to  the  proper  education  of  a  farmer ;  the  pupils  shall  themselves,  at  such 
proper  times  and  seasons,  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  board  of  trustees, 
perform  all  the  labor  necessary  in  the  cultivation  of  the  farm ;  and  shall 
thus  be  instructed  and  taught  all  things  necessary  to  be  known  by  a  farmer, 
it  being  the  design  and  intention  of  this  law  to  establish  an  institution  in 
which  3^outh  may  be  so  educated  as  to  fit  them  for  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer. 

Section  T.  The  board  of  trustees  shall  annually  elect  a  treasurer  who  shall 
receive  and  disburse  the  funds  of  the  institution  and  perform  such  other 
duties  as  shall  be  required  of  him;  and  from  whom  they  shall  take  such 
security  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty  as  necessity  shall  require  ; 
and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  board  of  trustees  annually  on  or  before 
the  first  of  December,  to  make  out  a  full  and  detailed  account  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  institution  for  the  preceding  year  and  an  account  of  all  its  re- 
ceipts and  disbursements  and  report  the  same  to  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Agricultural  Society,  who  shall  embody  said  report  in  the  annual  report, 
which,  by  existing  laws,  the  said  society  is  bound  to  make  and  transmit  to 
the  Legislature  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  of  January  of  each  and  every 
year. 

Section  8.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricul- 
tural Society  to  appropriate,  out  of  their  funds,  to  the  objects  of  this  act 
the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  whenever  the  same  shall  be  required,  and 
to  make  such  further  appropriations  annually  out  of  their  funds  as  will  aid 
in  the  prosecution  of  this  object,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
this  society,  at  such  times  as  they  shall  deem  expedient  by  their  commit- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  19 

tees,  officers,  or  otherwise  to  visit  the  said  institution  and  examine  into  the 
details  of  its  management. 

Approved— The  13th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1854. 


An  Act  to  Incorporate  tlic  Farmers'  Hlgb  School  of  Pennsylvania. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met^  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  there  be  and  is  hereby 
erected  and  established,  at  the  place  which  shall  be  designated  by  the 
authority,  and  as  hereinafter  provided,  an  institution  for  the  education  of 
youth  in  the  various  branches  of  science,  learning,  and  practical  agriculture, 
as  they  are  connected  with  each  other,  b}'  the  name,  style,  and  title  of  the 
Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania. 

Section  2.  That  the  said  institution  shall  be  under  the  management  and 
government  of  a  board  of  trustees,  of  whom  there  shall  be  thirteen,  and 
seven  of  whom  shall  be  a  quorum,  competent  to  perform  the  duties  herein- 
after authorized  and  required. 

Section  3.  That  the  Governor,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  the 
president  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural  Societ}^  and  the  principal 
of  the  institution,  shall  each  be  ex-officio  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees, 
and  they,  with  Dr.  Alfred  L.  Elwyn  and  Algernon  S.  Roberts,  of  the  city 
of  Philadelphia ;  H.  N.  McAllister,  of  the  county  of  Centre;  R.  C.Walker, 
of  the  county  of  Allegheny;  James  Miles,  of  the  county  of  Erie;  John 
Strohm,  of  the  county  of  Lancaster ;  A.  O.  Hiester,  of  the  county  of 
Dauphin;  William  Jessup,  of  the  county  of  Susquehanna,  and  Fred- 
erick Watts,  of  the  county  of  Cumberland,  shall  constitute  the  first  board 
of  trustees  ;  which  said  trustees  and  their  successors  in  office,  are  hereby 
erected  and  declared  to  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate  in  law,  with  per- 
petual succession,  by  the  name,  st^de,  and  title  of  the  Farmers'  High  School 
of  Pennsylvania,  by  which  name  and  title  the  said  trustees,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, shall  be  able  and  capable  in  law  to  take  by  gift,  grant,  sale,  or 
conveyance,  by  bequest,  devise,  or  otherwise,  any  estate  in  any  lands,  tene- 
ments, and  hereditaments,  goods,  chatties,  or  effects,  and  at  pleasure  to  alien 
or  otherwise  dispose  of  the  same  to  and  for  the  use  and  purpose  of  the  said 
institution  :  Provided,  however.  That  the  annual  income  of  the  said  estate 
so  held,  shall  at  no  time  exceed  twenty-five  thousand  dollars ;  and  the  said 
corporation  shall,  by  the  same  name,  have  power  to  sue  and  be  sued,  and 
generally  to  do  and  transact  all  and  every  business  touching  or  concerning 
the  premises,  or  which  shall  be  necessarilj'  incidental  thereto,  and  to  hold, 
enjoy,  and  exercise  all  such  powers,  authorities,  and  juri-diction  as  are  cus- 
tomary within  the  colleges  within  this  Commonwealth. 

Section  4.  That  the  same  trustees  shall  cause  to  be  made  a  seal,  with 
such  device  as  they  may  think  proper,  and  by  and  with  which  all  the  deeds, 
diplomas,  certificates  and  acts  of  the  institution  shall  be  authenticated,  and 
they  may  at  their  pleasure  alter  the  same. 

Section  5.  That  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees,  the  nine 
named,  who  are  not  ex-officio  members,  shall,  by  themselves  and  by  lot,  be 
'divided  into  three  classes  of  three  each,  numbered  one,  two,  and  three ;  the 
appointment  hereby  made  of  class  number  one,  shall  terminate  on  the  first 
Monday  of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-six  ;  number  two 
on  the  first  Monday  of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven, 
and  number  three  on  the  first  Monday  of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight ;  and  upon  the  termination  of  such  office  of  such  di- 


20  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

rectors,  to  wit :  On  the  first  Monday  of  October  in  every  year  an  election 
shall  be  held  at  the  institution  to  supply  their  place,  and  such  election  shall 
be  determined  by  the  votes  of  the  members  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural  Society,  and  the  votes  of  three  repre- 
sentatives duly  chosen  b}"^  each  county  agricultural  society  in  this  Common- 
wealth which  shall  have  been  oi^ganized  at  least  three  months  preceding 
the  time  of  election,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  board  of  trustees  to 
appoint  two  of  their  number  as  judges  to  hold  such  election,  to  receive  and 
count  the  votes,  and  return  the  same  to  the  board  of  trustees  with  their 
certificate  of  the  number  of  votes  cast,  and  for  whom,  whereupon  the  said 
board  shall  determine  who  have  received  the  highest  number  of  votes,  and 
who  are  thereby  elected. 

Section  6.  That  on  the  second  Thursday  of  June  after  the  passage  of 
this  act,  the  board  of  trustees,  who  are  hereby  appointed,  shall  meet  at 
Harrisburg,  and  proceed  to  the  organization  of  an  institution  and  selection 
of  the  most  eligible  site  within  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsj'lvania  for  its 
location,  where  they  shall  purchase  or  obtain  by  gift,  grant,  or  otherwise, 
a  tract  of  land  containing  at  least  two  hundred  acres,  and  not  exceeding 
two  thousand  acres,  upon  which  they  shall  procure  such  improvements  and 
alterations  to  be  made,  as  will  make  it  an  institution  properly  adapted  to 
tbe  instructions  of  youth  in  the  art  of  farming  according  to  the  meaning 
and  design  of  this  act.  They  shall  select  and  choose  a  principal  for  said 
institution,  who,  with  such  scientific  attainments  and  capacity  to  teach  as 
the  board  shall  deem  necessary,  shall  be  a  good  practical  farmer ;  he,  with 
such  other  persons  as  shall,  from  time  to  time,  be  employed  as  teachers, 
shall  comprise  the  faculty,  under  whose  control  the  immediate  management 
of  the  institution,  and  the  instruction  of  all  the  youth  committed  to  its 
care  shall  be,  subject,  however,  to  the  revision  and  all  the  orders  of  the 
board  of  trustees  ;  there  shall  be  a  quarterly  meeting  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees at  the  institution,  and  as  much  oftener  as  shall  be  necessary,  and  they 
shall  determine  ;  the  board  shall  have  power  to  pass  all  such  by-laws,  ordi- 
nances, and  rules  as  the  good  government  of  the  institution  shall  require, 
and  therein  to  prescribe  what  shall  be  taught  to  and  what  labor  performed 
by  the  pupils,  and  generally  to  do  and  perform  all  such  administrative  acts 
as  are  usually  performed  by  and  within  the  appropriate  duty  of  a  board  t)f 
trustees,  and  shall,  by  a  secretary  of  their  appointment,  keep  a  minute  of 
the  proceedings  and  action  of  the  board. 

Section  T.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  trustees  as  soon  and 
as  often  as  the  exigencies  of  the  case  may  require,  in  addition  to  the  prin- 
cipal, to  employ  such  other  professors,  teachers,  or  tutors  as  shall  be  quali- 
fied to  impart  to  pupils  under  their  charge  a  knoAvledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, grammar,  geography,  history,  mathematics,  chemistry,  and  such 
other  branches  of  natural  and  exact  science  as  will  conduce  to  the  proper 
education  of  a  farmer ;  the  pupils  shall,  themselves,  at  such  proper  times 
and  seasons  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  board  of  trustees,  perform  all  the 
labor  necessary  in  the  cultivation  of  the  farm,  and  shall  thus  be  instructed 
and  taught  all  things  necessary  to  be  known  by  a  farmer. 

Section  8.  That  the  board  of  trustees  shall  annually  elect  a  treasurer, 
who  shall  receive  and  disburse  the  funds  of  the  institution,  and  perform 
such  other  duties  as  shall  be  required  of  him,  and  from  whom  they  shall 
take  such  security  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty  as  necessity  shall 
require  ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  board  of  trustees,  annually,  on  or 
before  the  first  of  December,  to  make  out  a  full  and  detailed  accoxmt  of  the 
operations  of  the  institution  for  the  preceding  year,  and  on  account  of  all 
its  receipts  and  disbursements,  and  report  the  same  to  the  Pennsylvania 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  21 

State  Agricultural  Society,  who  shall  embod}'  said  report  in  the  annual  re- 
port which,  by  existing  laws,  the  said  society  is  bound  to  make  and  trans- 
mit to  the  Legislature  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  of  January  each  and 
every  year. 

Section  9.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural 
Society  to  appropriate,  out  of  their  funds  to  the  object  of  this  act,  a  sum 
not  exceeding  ten  thousand  dollars,  whenever  the  same  shall  be  required, 
and  to  make  such  further  appropriations,  annually,  out  of  their  funds,  as 
will  aid  in  the  prosecution  of  this  object,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  and  priv- 
ilege of  said  society,  at  such  time  as  they  shall  deem  expedient  by  their 
committee,  officers,  or  otherwise,  to  visit  the  said  institution  and  examine 
into  the  details  of  its  management. 

Section  10.  That  the  act  to  incorporate  the  "  Farmers'  High  School  of 
Pennsylvania,"  approved  the  thirteenth  day  of  April,  Anno  Domini,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-four,  be  and  the  same  is  herebj^  repealed. 

Approved — The  22d  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1855. 


An  Act  making  an  appropriation  front  tlic  State  treasury  In  aid  of  tUc  Farmers' 

High  School. 

Whereas,  The  Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania  has  secured  from 
various  sources,  in  aid  of  the  object  of  the  institution,  in  addition  to  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  donated,  a  fund  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars : 

Section  1.  Be  it  hereby  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represent- 
atives of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met, 
and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the  sum  of 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  be  and  is  hereby  appropriated  to  the  Farmers' 
High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  moneys  in  the  treasury 
not  otherwise  appropriated  :  Provided,  That  the  admissions  to  said  school 
from  the  several  counties,  shall  be  in  proportion  to  their  number  of  tax- ' 
ables  respectively,  if  such  number  shall  apply. 

Section  2.  That  the  further  sum  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  be  and  is 
hereby  appropriated  to  said  institution,  to  be  paid  as  hereinafter  provided. 

Section  3.  That  whenever  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, that  said  high  school  shall  have  received  from  some  other  source  or 
sources  one  thousand  dollars  or  upwards,  the  State  Treasurer  shall  pay  to 
said  school  an  equal  sum,  independent  of  the  appropriation  made  in  the 
first  section,  and  so  on  until  a  sum  not  exceeding  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars, in  addition  to  the  preceding  appropriation,  shall  have  been  appro- 
priated to  said  school :  Provided^  That  the  said  sum  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  shall  be  subscribed  within  three  years  after  the  passage  of  this  act. 

Section  4.  That  the  time  fixed  by  the  original  act  of  incorporation  of  the 
Farmers'  High  School,  for  the  annual  meeting  and  election  of  the  trustees 
and  officers  of  the  said  institution,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  changed  so 
that  the  same  shall  hereafter  be  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  September,  in 
each  year,  instead  of  the  time  mentioned  in  the  original  act. 

Section  5.  There  shall  be  established,  in  connection  with  the  institution, 
an  office  where  correct  and  perfect  analysis  shall  be  made,  without  charge, 
of  all  soils  and  manures  which  shall  be  sent  by  citizens  of  this  Common- 
wealth for  that  purpose,  and  a  correct  report  returned  of  the  result  of  said 
analysis,  accompanied  with  such  information  as  may  be  useful  in  the  case. 

Section  6.  That  the  said  corporation  shall  furnish  reports  of  the  results 
of  all  experiments  made  with  trees,  shrubs,  plants,  seeds,  soils,  and  breed- 
ing and  rearing  of  stock,  to  at  least  one  newspaper  in  each  county  in  the 


22  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Commonwealth  for  publication ;  the  same  to  be  furnished  monthly,  or  im- 
mediately after  the  results  of  the  investigations  are  known. 
Approved— The  20th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1857. 


Au  Act  relating  to  the  trustees  of  the  Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvaiila. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  Commonivealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  at  all  future  meetings  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  live 
members  thereof  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

Section  2.  That  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  the  court  of  quarter  sessions  of 
X]!entre  count}'  to  grant  a  license  to  any  person  or  persons  for  the  sale  of 
ardent  spirits  or  malt  liquors,  at  any  place  within  two  miles  of  the  Farmers' 
High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  located  in  the  said  county. 

Section  3.  That  the  superintendent  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Lunatic 
Hospital  be  and  is  hereby  directed  to  deliver  to  the  trustees  of  the  Farmers' 
High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  to  be  arranged  for  exhibition  and  use  in  the 
museum  of  the  said  school,  the  cabinets  of  mineralogical  and  geological 
specimens  belonging  to  the  State,  which  were  placed  in  the  care  of  the  said 
superintendent  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  compliance  with 
the  resolution,  approved  the  fifteenth  day  of  February,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fifty-five. 

Approved— The  Itth  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1859. 


An  Act  making  an  appropriation  from  the  State  Treasury  In  the  further  aid  of  the 
Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  enable  the  trustees  to  complete 
the  college  buildings. 

Whereas,  The  Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  combining  manual 
labor  with  the  acquisition  of  scientific  knowledge,  has  been  in  operation  for 
two  years,  with  over  one  hundred  students,  demonstrating  by  actual  results 
the  practicabilit}^  and  expediency  of  the  vinion  : 

And  whereas,  The  trustees,  for  want  of  the  funds  required  to  complete 
the  whole,  were  compelled  to  suspend  the  work  upon  the  center  building, 
east  wing,  and  curtain,  constituting  two  thirds  of  the  college  structure, 
leaving  the  walls  of  the  same  at  the  height  of  one  story,  and  much  of  the 
material  prepared  for  the  construction  therepf  in  an  exposed  condition  : 

And  whereas.  Until  the  completion  of  the  entire  buildings,  designed  for 
the  accommodation  of  four  hundred  students,  this  great  enterprise  of  our 
age  and  country,  now  exciting  a  deep  interest  in  many  States,  cannot  be 
fairly  tested ;  therefore. 

Section  I.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the  sum  of  forty-nine 
thousand  nine  hundred  dollars  be  and  is  hereby  appropriated  to  the  Farmers' 
High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  to  be  paid  in  eight  quarterly  payments,  as 
the  work  progresses,  out  of  moneys  in  the  State  treasury  not  otherwise 
appropriated  :  Provided,  That  before  any  part  of  this  appropriation  be 
drawn  from  the  treasury,  satisfactory  evidence  shall  be  produced  to  the 
Auditor  General  that  the  managers  have  entered  into  a  contract,  with  suffi- 


LsG.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  23 

cient  sureties,  that  the  buildings  shall  all  be  finished  for  the  amount  herein 
appropriated. 

Section  2.  That  for  the  purpose  of  having  the  sum  appropriated  by  the 
provisions  of  this  act  properly  applied  to  the  completion  of  the  buildings 
of  the  Farmers'  High  School,  that  Frederick  AVatts,  Henry  D.  Moore,  H. 
N.  McAlister,  Isaac  W.  Yan  Lear,  and  Gideon  J.  Ball,  be  appointed  com- 
missioners, with  instructions  tO  report  to  the  next  Legislature. 

Approved— The  18th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1861. 


Petition  of  tUc  Farmcrg'  Hlgb  School  of  Pemtsyl-Faula. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  of 

Centre  county : 

The  petition  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Farmers'  High  School  of 
Pennsylvania  respectfully  represents  "  that  their  institution  was  incorpor- 
ated b^^  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  the  22d  of  February, 
1855,  by  the  name,  &tyle,  and  title  of  the  '  Farmers'  High  School  of  Penn- 
sylvania,' and  that  they  are  desirous  to  change  the  name  of  the  institution 
as  incorporated,  whereby  the  same  shall  be  forever  hereafter  called  and 
known  by  the  name,  style,  and  title  of '  The  Agricultural  College  of  Penn- 
sylvania.' They,  therefore,  pray  the  court  to  make  such  order  and  decree 
in  the  premises  as  that  the  name  of  the  corporation  may  be  thus  changed, 
in  pursuance  of  the  twelfth  section  of  the  act  of  4th  of  April,  1843.  And 
we,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray,  &c." 
By  order  of  the  board, 

FREDERICK  WATTS, 
President. 
Attest : 

MOSES  THOMPSON, 

Secretary. 

Decree. 

And  now,  May  1,  1862,  the  within  petition  being  read  in  open  court,  it 
is. ordered  in  accordance  with  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  that  the  name 
of  the  corporation  within  mentioned  be  changed  to  "  The  Agricultural 
College  of  Pennsylvania,"  and  it  is  further  ordered  that  the  petition  and 
this  decree  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  this  court,  and  that  it  be 
entered  at  length  upon  the  record  of  said  court. 

BY  THE  COURT. 


An  Act  donating  public  lands  to  the  (several  States  and  Territories  -tvhlch  may- 
provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled.  That  there  be  granted  to  the 
several  States,  for  the  purpose  hereinafter  mentioned,  an  amount  of  public 
land,  to  be  appropriated  to  each  State  a  quantity  equal  to  thirty  thousand 
acres  for  each  senator  and  representative  in  Congress  to  which  the  States 
are  respectively  entitled  by  the  apportionment  under  the  census  of  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixt3' :  Provided^  That  no  mineral  lands  shall  be  selected  or 
purchased  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted^  That  the  land  aforesaid,  after  being 
surveyed,  shall  be  apportioned  to  the  several  States,  in  sections  or  sub- 


2i  Report  of  thk  Committee.  [No.  18, 

divisions  of  sections,  not  less  than  one  quarter  of  a  section  ;  and  whenever 
there  are  public  lands  in  a  State  subject  to  sale  at  private  entry,  at  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  the  quantity  to  which  said  State  shall 
be  entitled  shall  be  selected  from  such  lands  within  the  limits  of  such  State, 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  hereby  directed  to  issue  to  each  of  the 
States  in  which  there  is  not  the  quantity  of  public  lands  subject  to  sale  at 
private  entry  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  to  which  said 
State  may  be  entitled  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  land  scrip  to  the 
amount  in  acres  for  the  deficiency  of  its  distributive  share ;  said  scrip  to 
be  sold  by  said  States,  and  the  proceeds  thereof  applied  to  the  uses  and 
purposes  prescribed  in  this  act,  and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatso- 
ever :  Provided,  That  in  no  case  shall  any  State  to  which  land  scrip  may 
thus  be  issued  be  allowed  to  locate  the  same  within  the  limits  of  any  other 
State,  or  of  any  Territory  of  the  United  States,  but  their  assignees  may 
thus  locate  said  land  scrip  upon  any  of  the  unappropriated  lands  of  the 
United  States  subject  to  sale  at  private  entry  at  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents,  or  less,  per  acre  :  And  provided  further,  That  not  more  than 
one  million  acres  shall  be  located  by  such  assignees  in  any  one  of  the 
States :  And  provided  further,  That  no  such  location  shall  be  made  be- 
fore one  year  from  the  passage  of  this  act. 

Section  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  theexpenses  of  management, 
superintendence,  and  taxes  from  date  of  selection  of  said  lands,  previous  to 
their  sales,  and  all  expenses  incurred  in  the  management  and  disbursement 
of  the  moneys  which  maybe  received  therefrom,  shall  be  paid  by  the  States 
to  which  they  belong,  out  of  the  treasury  of  said  States,  so  that  the  entire 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  said  lands  shall  be  applied,  without  any  diminution 
whatever,  to  the  purposes  hereinafter  mentioned. 

Section  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  the  moneys  derived  from 
the  sale  of  the  lands  aforesaid,  b,y  the  States  to  which  the  lands  are  appor- 
tioned, and  from  the  sales  of  the  land  scrip  hereinbefore  provided  for,  shall 
be  invested  in  stocks  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  States,  or  some  other 
safe  stocks,  yielding  not  less  than  five  per  centum  upon  the  par  value  of 
said  stocks ;  and  that  the  moneys  so  invested  shall  constitute  a  perpetual 
fund,  the  capital  of  which  shall  remain  forever  undiminished,  (except  so 
far  as  may  be  provided  in  section  fifth  of  this  act,)  and  the  interest  of  which 
shall  be  inviolably  appropriated,  by  each  State  which  may  take  and  claim 
the  benefit  of  this  act,  to  the  endowment,  support,  and  maintenance  of  at 
least  one  college  where  the  leading  object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other 
scientific  and  classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such 
branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in 
such  manner  as  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  may  respectively  prescribe, 
in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  in  life. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  grant  of  land  and  land  scrip  hereby 
authorized  shall  be  made  on  the  following  conditions,  to  which,  as  well  as 
to  the  provisions  hereinbefore  contained,  the  previous  assent  of  the  several 
States  shall  be  signified  by  legislative  acts  : 

First.  If  any  portion  of  the  fund  invested,  as  provided  by  the  foregoing 
section,  or  any  portion  of  the  interest  thereon,  shall,  by  any  action  or  con- 
tingency, be  diminished  or  lost,  it  shall  be  replaced  by  the  State  to  which 
it  belongs,  so  that  the  capital  of  the  fund  shall  remain  forever  undiminished  ; 
and  the  annual  interest  shall  be  regularly  applied,  without  diminution,  to 
the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  fourth  section  of  this  act,  except  that  a  sum, 
not  exceeding  ten  per  centum  upon  the  amount  received  by  any  State  under 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  may  be  expended  for  the  purchase  of  lands  for 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  25 

sites  or  experimental  farms,  whenever  authorized  by  the  respective  Legis- 
latures of  said  States.' 

Second.  No  portion  of  said  fund,  nor  the  interest  thereon,  shall  be  ap- 
plied, directly  or  indirectly,  under  any  pretense  whatev^er,  to  the  purchase, 
erection,  preservation,  or  repair  of  any  building  or  buildings. 

Third.  Any  State  which  may  take  and  claim  the  benefit  of  the  provisions 
of  this  act  shall  provide,  within  five  years,  at  least  not  less  than  one  col- 
lege, as  described  in  the  fourth  section  of  this  act,  or  the  grant  to  such 
State  shall  cease ;  and  said  State  shall  be  bound  to  pay  the  United  States 
the  amount  received  of  any  lands  previously  sold,  and  that  the  title  to 
purchasers  under  the  State  shall  be  valid. 

Fourth.  An  annual  report  shall  be  made  regarding  the  progress  of  each 
college,  recording  any  improvements  or  experiments  made,  with  their  cost 
and  results,  and  such  other  matters,  including  State  industrial  and  economi- 
cal statistics,  as  may  be  supposed  useful ;  one  copy  of  which  shall  be  trans- 
mitted by  mail  free,  by  each,  to  all  the  other  colleges  which  may  be  en- 
dowed under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  also  one  copy  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior. 

Fifth.  When  lands  shall  be  selected  from'those  which  have  been  raised 
to  double  the  minimum  price,  in  consequence  of  railroad  grants,  they  shall 
be  computed  to  the  States  at  the  maximum  price,  and  the  number  of  acres 
proportionally  diminished. 

Sixth.  No  State  while  in  a  condition  of  rebellion  or  insurrection  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  this 
act. 

Seventh.  No  State  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  this  act  unless  it 
shall  express  its  acceptance  thereof  by  its  Legislature  within  two  _years 
from  the  date  of  its  approval  by  the  President. 

Section  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  land  sci'ip  issued  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  shall  not  be  subject  to  location  until  after  the  first 
day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three. 

Section  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  land  ofificers  shall  receive 
the  same  fees  for  locating  land  scrip  issued  under  the  provisions  of  this  act 
as  is  now  allowed  for  the  location  of  military  bounty  land  warrants  under 
existing  laws  :  Provided,  Their  maximum  compensation  shall  not  be  there- 
by increased. 

Section  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Governors  of  the  several 
States  to  which  scrip  shall  be  issued  under  this  act,  shall  be  required  to 
report  annually  to  Congi'ess  all  sales  made  of  such  scrip  until  the  whole 
shall  be  disposed  of,  the  amount  received  for  the  same,  and  what  appro- 
priation has  been  made  of  the  proceeds. 

Approved — July  2,  1862. 


An  Act  to  accept  tlic  grant  of  public  lands  by  tlie  United  States  to  tlie  several 
States,  for  tlic  cndo'wmcnt  of  agricnltnrai  colleges. 

Whereas,  By  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  the  second  day  of  July,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a  grant  of  land  was  made  to  the 
several  States  and  Territories  which  may  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit 
of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each 
senator  and  representative  in  Congress  to  which  the  States  are  respectively 
entitled  by  the  apportionment  under  the  census  of  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixt}'-,  which  act  of  Congress  requires  that  the  several  States,  in 
order  to  entitle  them  to  the  benefit  of  said  grant,  should,  within  two  years 
from  the  date  of  this  act,  express  their  acceptance  of  the  same  : 


26  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

And  whereas^  The  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  has  already  shown  its 
high  regard  for  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State  by  the  establishment 
of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  and  by  making  liberal  appro- 
priations thereto ;  therefore, 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same.  That  the  act  of  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  passed  the  second  day  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two,  entitled  "An  act  donating  lands  to  the  several  States 
and  Territories  which  may  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture 
and  the  mechanic  arts,"  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  accepted  by  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  with  all  its  provisions  and  conditions,  and  the  faith  of 
the  State  is  herelay  pledged  to  carry  the  same  into  effect. 

Section  2.  That  the  Surveyor  General  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  is 
hereby  authorized  and  required  to  do  every  act  and  thing  necessary  to  en- 
title this  State  to  its  distributive  share  of  land  scrip  under  the  provisions 
of  the  said  act  of  Congress,  and  when  the  said  scrip  is  received  by  him  to 
dispose  of  the  same  under  such  regulations  as  the  board  of  commissioners 
hereafter  appointed  by  this  act  shall  prescribe. 

Sections.  That  the  Governor,  the  Auditor  General,  and  the  Surveyor 
General  are  hereby  constituted  a  board  of  commissioners,  with  full  power 
and  authority  to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the 
manner  in  which  the  Surveyor  General  aforesaid  shall  dispose  of  the  said 
land  scrip,  the  investment  of  the  proceeds  thereof  in  the  State  stocks  of 
this  State,  and  apply  interest  arising  therefrom  as  herein  directed  ;  and  in 
general  to  do  all  and  every  act  or  acts  necessary  to  carry  into  full  effect 
the  said  act  of  Congress  :  Provided,  That  no  investment  shall  be  made  in 
any  other  stocks  than  those  of  the  United  States  or  of  this  Commonwealth. 

Section  4.  That  until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  annual  interest  accruing  from  any  investment  of  the  funds  ac- 
quired under  the  said  act  of  Congress  is  hereby  appropriated,  and  the  said 
commissioners  are  directed  to  pay  the  same  to  the  Agricultural  College  of 
Pennsylvania  for  the  endowment,  support,  and  maintenance  of  said  insti- 
tution, which  college  is  now  in  fall  and  successful  operation,  and  where  the 
leading  object  is,  without  excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies, 
and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  re- 
lated to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts. 

Section  5.  That  the  said  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania  shall,  on 
or  before  the  first  day  of  February  of  each  year,  make  a  report  to  the  Leg- 
islature of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  said  institution  for  the  pre- 
ceding year. 

Approved— The  1st  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1863. 


A  snpplcmciit  to  tlie  act  to  accept  the  ;;raiit  of  pnlillc  lands  by  tlie  United  States  to 
tlie  several  States,  for  tlic  endo-wmcut  of  agricultural  colleges,  passed  tUe  first 
day  of  April,  one  tliousaud  elglit  hundred  and  slxty-tlirce. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the  third  section  of  the 
act,  entitled  "  An  act  to  accept  the  grant  of  public  lands,  by  the  United 
States  to  the  several  States,  for  the  endowment  of  agricultural  colleges," 
passed  the  first  day  of  April,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three, 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  authorize  the  Governor,  Auditor  General,  and 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  27 

Surreyor  General,  as  commissioners,  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  de- 
volved upon  them  by  said  act,  to  direct  the  payment  of  the  expenses  ot 
disposing  of  the  said  land  scrip,  out  of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not  other- 
wise appropriated :  Provided,  That  no  more  than  one  third  of  the  distri- 
butive shares  of  the  said  land  scrip,  donated  to  this  State,  shall  be  sold 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Section  2.  That  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Agricultural  College  ot 
Penns3'lvania  be,  and  they  are  hereby ,  authorized,  to  borrow  a  sum  of  money 
not  exceeding  eighty  thousand  dollars,  at  a  rate  of  interest  not  exceeding 
seven  per  cent.,  and  taxes,  with  which  to  pay  and  consolidate  all  the  debts 
of  the  institution,  and  to  secure  the  same  by  a  mortgage  upon  the  property 
thereof. 

ArrROVED— The  11th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1866. 


An  Act  relating  to  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsyl-vama,  and  to  tlic  establlsli- 
ment  of  experimental  farms  In  connection  tbercTrltli. 

Whereas,  The  trustees  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania, 
from  the  want  of  adequate  funds,  have  deferred  the  establishment  of  the 
experimental  farm  contemplated  in  the  original  plan  of  the  institution  : 

And  whereas^  To  secure  greater  diversity  of  soil  and  climate,  and  add 
to  the  interests  and  importance  of  the  experiments,  it  is  thought  best  that 
three  experimental  farms  should  be  established  in  Pennsylvania : 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Bepresentative.t  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the  proviso  to  the  first 
section  of  the  act  entitled  "A  supplement  to  the  act  to  accept  the  grant  of 
public  lands,  by  the  United  States  to  the  several  States  for  the  endowment 
of  agricultural  colleges,  passed  the  first  day  of  April,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,"  approved  the  eleventh  day  of  April,  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty-six,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed. 

Section  2.  That  the  one  tenth  part  of  the  entire  proceeds  of  the  lands 
donated  by  Congress  to  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  by  the  act  of  the  sec- 
ond day  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  in  trust  ac- 
cepted by  the  act  of  the  first  day  of  April,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty -three,  to  which  this  is  a  supplement,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  appro- 
priated, and  the  commissioners  under  the  said  act  of  April,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  are  directed  to  pay  the  same  to  the  Agri- 
cultural College  of  Pennsylvania,  to  be  expended  in  the  purchase  of  lands 
for  experimental  farms. 

Section  3.  That  the  interest  and  income  of  the  entire  residue  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  said  lands  be  and  are  hereby  appropriated,  and  the  commis- 
sioners under  the  said  act,  are  hereby  directed  to  pay  the  same  as  it  shall 
accrue,  to  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  endowment, 
support,  and  maintenance  thereof,  on  condition  that  the  trustees  establish, 
conduct,  and  maintain,  in  connection  with  the  College,  three  experimental 
farms  ;  one  near  the  college,  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture  in  the  institution,  another  east,  and  the  other  west, 
upon  lands  of  diA-ersified  qualit3-, under  the  immediate  supervision, respect- 
ively, of  an  assistant  professor  of  agriculture. 

Approved— The  19th  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1867. 


28  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

An  Act  directing  the  gale  of  tlie  lionds  composing;  the  Aerlcnltnral  College  land 
scrip  fund,  and  authorizing  the  Issue  of  a  new  hond  In  lieu  thereof,  and  ahol- 
the  hoard  of  commissioners  created  hy  act  of  April  first,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  hy  the  Senate  and  House  of  Eepesentatives  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the  surve^yor  general 
be  and  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  sell  all  the  present  bonds  held 
by  him,  in  trust  for  the  Agricultural  College  land  script  fund,  and  pay  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  same  to  the  state  treasurer,  for  the  use  of  the 
sinking  fund  commissioners. 

Section  2.  That  the  governor,  auditor  general  and  state  treasurer  are 
authorized  to  issue  a  registered  bond  of  this  commonwealth,  for  the  sum 
of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  payable  to  the  Agricultural  College  land 
script  fund  of  Pennsylvania,  after  fifty  years  from  the  first  day  of  February, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  with  interest  on  the  same  at 
the  I'ate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  to  be  paid  semi-annually  on  the  first 
of  February  and  August  of  each  year,  and  deliver  the  said  bend  to  the 
state  treasurer  for  the  uses  and  purposes  declared  by  law. 

Section  3.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  state  treasurer  to  hold  said 
bond  in  trust  for  the  Agricultural  College  land  scrip  fund  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  to  pay  the  interest  accruing  thereon,  semi-annually  to  the  Agri- 
cultural College  of  Pennsylvania,  according  to  the  several  acts  of  assembl}^ 
in  relation  thereto. 

Section  4.  That  the  board  of  commissioners  for  the  sale  of  Agricultural 
College  land  scrip,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  abolished  ;  and  the  surveyor 
general  is  directed  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  state  treasurer  the  book  of 
accounts  and  vouchers  relating  to  the  Agricultural  College  land  scrip  fund 
now  in  his  custody. 

•  WILLIAM  ELLIOTT, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
JAMES  S.  RUTAN, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

Approved — The  third  day  of  April,  Anno  Domini  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-two. 

JNO.  W.  GEAllY. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College,  29 


DECREES  OF  THE  COURT. 


To  the  Honorable  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Centre 

county : 

The  petition  of  the  board  of*  trustees  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Penn- 
sylvania respectfully  sheweth  :  That  the  said  institution  of  learning  was 
incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania,  approved  the  22d  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1855,  under  the 
name,  style,  and  title  of  "  The  Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania  ;" 
that  by  the  same  act  of  Assembly  the  time  fixed  for  the  annual  election  of 
the  trustees  of  the  said  institution  was  fixed  for  the  first  Monday  of  Oc- 
tober in  every  year,  which  time,  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  ap- 
proved the  2uth  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1857,  was  changed  to  the  first  Wednes- 
day of  September  in  each  year ;  that  by  a  decree  of  the  court  of  quarter 
sessions  of  the  said  county  of  Centre,  upon  the  petition  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  said  institution  of  learning,  the  name  thereof  was  changed  upon 
the  first  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1862,  from  "  The  Farmers'  High  Scool  of  Penn- 
s^'lvania"  to  "  The  Agricultural  College  of  Penns^-lvania,"  b}"  which  latter 
name  it  has  since  been  designated  and  known ;  j^our  petitioners  further 
represent  that  the  name  by  which  the  said  institution  of  learning  is  now 
known,  to  wit :  "  The  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,"  fails  to  con- 
vey or  represent  a  proper  idea  of  the  scope  of  the  instruction  and  the  va- 
riety of  branches  taught  therein  ;  that  instruction  is  given  in  the  branches 
which  relate  to  the  mechanic  arts,  and  to  a  thorough  literary  education, 
as  well  as  those  which  relate  to  agriculture  ;  and  that  in  the  opinion  of 
your  petitioners  the  name  of  said  institution  should  more  fully  express  its 
scope  and  purpose.  Your  petitioners  further  represent  that  the  time  fixed 
for  the  election  of  trustees  in  each  year  is  inconvenient,  and  at  a  time  when 
a  meeting  must  be  held  especially  for  that  purpose. 

They  exhibit  herewith  an  acceptance  of  notice  of  this  application  from 
the  Auditor  General  of  Pennsylvania,  and  thereupon  respectfully  pray : 

First :  That  the  name  of  the  said  institution  of  learning  may  be  altered 
and  changed  from  "  The  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,"  as  it  now 
is,  to  "  The  Pennsylvania  State  College." 

Second :  That  the  time  for  holding  the  annual  election  for,  and  annual 
meeting  of,  the  trustees  at  the  institution  be  altered  and  changed  from  the 
first  Wednesday  of  September  in  each  year  as  now  by  law  established,  to 
the  Wednesday  next  preceding  the  last  Friday  of  July  in  each  year,  the 
said  last  Friday  of  July  being  the  immovable  day  in  the  college  calendar 
closing  the  college  year,  and  being  in  the  week  devoted  to  the  annual  pub- 
lic exercises  of  the  college.     And  your  petitioners  will  ever  pray,  &c. 

On  behalf  and  by  direction  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Agricultural 
College  of  Pennsylvania. 

JAMES  CALDER, 
Secretary  Trustees  A.  C.  of  Fa. 

And  now,  this  24th  November,  1873,  the  court  ha^'ing  heard  the  within 
petition,  and  it  appearing  to  us  that  the  request  therein  set  forth  and  con- 
tained is  lawful  and  not  injurious  to  the  community,  said  petition  is  di- 
rected to  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  prothonotary  of  the  court  of  common 


30  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

pleas,  and  notice  is  directed  to  be  given  by  publication  in  one  newspaper 
in  said  county  for  at  least  three  weeks,  setting  forth  that  application  had 
been  made  to  said  court  to  amend  the  charter  of  said  corporation,  if  no  suffi- 
cient objection  be  made  thereto. 
By  the  court : 

In  the  Common  Pleas  op  Centre  County. 

In  the  matter  of  the  petition  praying  for  the  amendment  of  the  charter 
of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania  : 

And  now,  this  28th  day  of  January,  A.  D.  18T4,  the  amenc'ments  pro- 
posed to  the  charter  of  the  Agricultural  ccllege  of  Pennsylvania  having 
been  heretofore,  viz  :  On  the  24th  of  November,  1873,  filed  in  the  prothon- 
otary's  office,  and  due  notice  inserted  in  a  newspaper  printed  in  said  county, 
and  notice  having  been  given  the  Auditor  General  of  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  is  directed  by  law ;  therefore,  on  motion  of  McAllister  &  Bea- 
ver, it  is  declared  and  decreed  that  the  name  of  the  said  ''Agricultural 
College  of  Pennsylvania"  is  changed  to  that  of  "  The  Pennsylvania  State 
College,"  by  which  name  it  shall  henceforth  be  known  and  designated  ;  and 
also  that  the  time  for  holding  the  annual  election  for,  and  meeting  of  the  trus- 
tees of  said  college  be  changed  from  the  first  Wednesday  of  September,  as 
by  law  now  estalDlished,  to  the  Wednesday  next  preceding  the  last  Friday 
of  July  in  each  and  every  year ;  and  further,  that  these  proceedings  shall 
be  recorded  in  the  recorder's  office  in  said  county. 

By  the  court : 

J.  C.  BUCHER,  P.  J. 


To  the  Honorable  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of 
Centre  County  : 

The  petition  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College 
respectfully  showeth  :  That  the  said  institution  of  learning  was  incorpor- 
ated by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania, approved  the  twenty-second  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1855,  under 
the  name,  style,  and  title  of  the  "  Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania ;" 
that  by  the  sameactof  Assembh^,the  time  for  the  annual  election  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  said  institution  was  fixed  for  the  first  Monday  of  October,  in  ever}' 
year  ;  and  it  was  further  provided  by  the  same  act, ''  that  such  election 
shall  be  determined  by  the  votes  of  the  members  of  the  executive  commit- 
tee of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural  Society  and  the  votes  of  three 
representatives  duly  chosen  by  each  county  agricultural  society  in  this 
Commonwealth,  which  shall  have  been  organized  at  least  three  months  pre- 
ceding the  time  of  election  ;"  that  by  the  seventh  section  of  the  same  act, 
it  was  further  provided,  "  that  the  pupils  shall,  themselves,  at  such  proper 
times  and  seasons  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  board  of  trustees,  per- 
form all  the  labor  necessary  in  the  cultivation  of  the  farm,  and  shall  thus 
be  instructed  and  taught  all  things  necessary  to  be  known  by  a  farmer  ;" 
that  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assemby,  approved  the  twentieth  day  of  May, 
A.  D.  1857,  the  time  for  the  election  and  annual  meeting  of  the  trustees 
was  changed  from  the  first  Monday  in  October  in  every  year,  to  the  first  Wed- 
nesday of  September  in  each  year,  which  said  act  was  further  changed  by 
a  decree  of  your  honorable  court,  dated  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  January, 
A,  D.  1874,  to  the  Wednesday  next  preceding  the  last  Friday  of  July,  in 


Leo.  Doc.  ]  Pennsylvania  State  Collbge.  31 

each  and  every  year  ;  that  by  a  decree  of  the  court  of  quarter  sessions  of 
said  county  of  Centre,  dated  the  first  day  of  May,  A.  D,  1862,  the  name  of 
the  said  institution  of  learning  was  altered  and  changed  from  "  The 
Farmers'  High  School  of  Pennsylvania,"  to  "  The  Agricultural  College  of 
Pennsylvania,"  and  that  by  the  decree  of  your  honorable  court,  dated  the 
twenty-sixth  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1874,  aforementioned,  the  name  of  the 
said  institution  of  learning  was  altered  and  changed  from  "  The  Agricul- 
tural College  of  Pennsylvania,"  to  "  The  Pennsylvania  State  College,"  by 
which  said  name  last  above  mentioned,  it  has  since  been  and  now  is  known 
and  designated. 

Your  petitioners  further  show  that  by  an  act  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  approved  the  2d  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1862,  entitled  "An  act 
donating  lands  to  the  several  States  and  Teritories  which  may  provide 
colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,"  which 
said  act  of  Congress,  in  addition  to  donating  lands  aforesaid  provided, 
among  other  things,  that  in  the  colleges  established  under  or  accepting  the 
provisions  of  the  said  act,  "  the  leading  subject  shall  be,  without  excluding 
other  scientific  and  classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach 
such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  of  the  State  may  prescribe,  in  oi'der 
to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in 
the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of  life ;  and  which  said  act  of  Con- 
gress, by  an  act  of  General  Assembly,  approved  the  1st  day  of  April,  A. 
D.  1863,  was  accepted  b}^  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  with  all  its  provisions 
and  conditions,  and  the  faith  of  the  State  pledged  to  carry  the  same  into 
effect ;  that  by  the  fourth  section  of  the  said  last-mentioned  act  of  Assem- 
bly it  was  further  provided  "  that  until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Pennsylvania,  the  annual  interest  accruing  from  any  investment  ot 
the  funds  acquired  under  the  said  act  of  Congress,  is  hereby  appropriated, 
and  the  said  commissioners  are  directed  to  pay  the  same  to  the  Agricul- 
tual  College  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  endowment,  support,  and  maintenance 
of  the  said  institution,  which  college  is  now  in  full  and  successful  operation, 
and  where  the  leading  object  is,  without  excluding  other  scientific  and 
classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  ot 
learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts ;"  and  that  hy 
an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  approved  the  nineteenth  day  of  February, 
A.  D.  1867,  after  providing  for  the  establishment  of  experimental  farms,  it 
was  provided  by  the  third  section  of  the  said  act,  "  that  the  interest  and 
income  of  the  entire  residue  of  the  proceeds  of  the  said  lands  be  and  are 
hereby  appropriated,  and  the  commissioners  under  the  said  act  are  also 
hereby  directed  to  pay  the  same  as  it  shall  accrue  to  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege of  Pennsylvania  for  the  endowment,  support,  and  maintenance  there- 
of, on  condition  the  trustees  establish,  conduct,  and  maintain,  in  connection 
with  the  college,  three  experimental  farms,"  &c.  Your  petitioners  further 
showing  that  by  recent  action  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  said  college, 
the  academic  year  has  been  divided  into  three  sessions  instead  of  two,  as 
formerl}',  and  that  the  close  of  the  said  academic  year  has  been  fixed  upon 
Friday  next  preceding  the  fourth  day  of  July  in  each  year,  and  that  the 
annual  closing  exercises  of  the  institution  take  place  upon  the  days  next 
immediately  preceding  the  close  of  the  academic  year,  respectfully  pray 
that  the  articles  and  conditions  of  the  charter  of  the  said  institution  of 
learning  ma}' be  so  changed,  amended,  improved,  and  altered  as  to  conform 
to  the  altered  conditions  imposed  upon  the  institution  by  the  acceptance 
of  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress,  approved  the  2d  day  of  July,  A. 
D.  1862,  hereinbefore  referred  to  and  the  action  of  the  board  of  trustees 


32  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

last  above  mentioned,  and  so  that  the  same  may  hereafter  be  until  other- 
wise ordered,  as  follows,  to  wit : 

First.  That  the  time  for  holding  the  annual  election  for  and  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  trustees  of  the  institution  be  fixed  for  the  Wednesday  next  pre- 
ceding the  Friday  immediately  preceding  the  4th  day  of  July  in  each  and 
every  .year,  instead  of  the  Wednesda}^  next  preceding  the  last  Friday  of 
July,  as  at  present  established. 

Second.  That  the  number  of  trustees  of  said  institution  be  fixed  at 
twenty-three,  instead  of  thirteen,  as  provided  in  the  second  section  of  the 
act  of  Assembly,  approved  the  22d  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1855,  and  that 
the  said  board  of  trustees  be  constituted  as  follows :  The  Governor,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs,  the 
Adjutant  General,  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  the  president 
of  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  the  president  of  the  Franklin  Institute 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  president  of  the  institution,  shall  be  ex-ojfficio 
members  of  the  board  ;  the  remaining  members,  to  wit,  fifteen,  shall  be 
elected  in  manner  following,  to  wit :  Three  by  the  alumni  of  the  institution, 
and  the  remaining  twelve  by  a  body  of  electors,  composed  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural  Society,  the  managers 
of  the  Franklin  Institute  of  Pennsylvania,  three  representatives  duly 
chosen  by  each  county  agricultural  society  in  this  Commonwealth  which 
shall  have  been  organized  at  least  three  months  preceding  the  time  of  elec- 
tion, and  three  representatives  duly  chosen  by  each  association,  not  ex- 
ceeding one  in  each  county  of  the  Commonwealth,  which  shall  have  for  its 
principal  object  the  promotion  and  encouragement  of  the  mining  and 
manufacturing  interests  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  mechanic  and  use- 
ful arts,  and  which  shall,  in  like  manner,  have  been  organized  at  least  three 
months  preceding  the  time  of  election. 

Third.  That  at  the  election  to  be  held  under  the  provisions  of  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph,  in  the  year  A.  D.  1876,  the  alumni  be  authorized  to  elect 
three  trustees — one  to  serve  for  one  year,  one  for  two  years,  and  one  for 
three  years — and  that  annually  thereafter  the  said  alumni  be  authorized 
and  empowered  to  elect  one  trustee  in  place  of  the  one  whose  term  of 
office  shall  expire,  to  serve  for  the  period  of  three  years ;  and  that  the 
other  electors  referred  to  in  the  second  paragraph,  or  so  many  of  them  as 
shall  be  present  at  the  institution  at  the  annual  meeting  in  the  year  A.  D. 
1876,  be  authorized  and  empowered  to  elect  three  trustees  in  addition  to 
the  three  whose  term  of  office  shall  then  expire,  one  of  which  additional 
trustees  to  be  elected  to  serve  one  year,  one  for  two  years,  and  one  for 
three  years ;  and  that  annually  thereafter  the  said  electors  be  authorized 
and  empowered  to  elect  four  trustees,  instead  of  three,  as  at  present,  to 
serve  for  the  period  of  three  years,  and  that  all  elections  be  directed  to 
be  held  at  the  institution  by  so  many  of  the  electors  and  alumni,  above 
mentioned,  as  shall  be  present  at  the  regular  time  for  holding  elections, 
under  the  direction  of  the  board  of  trustees  and  by  ballot,  as  now  provided 
by  law. 

Fourth.  That  in  addition  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees 
at  the  institution,  such  other  meetings  be  authorized  as  may  be  fixed  by 
the  board  by  their  adjournment  from  time  to  time,  or  be  called  by  author- 
ity of  the  president  and  secretary ;  in  which  latter  case,  printed  or  written 
notice  shall  be  given  to  each  and  every  member  of  the  board  at  least  ten 
days  prior  to  the  time  of  meeting,  which  said  meetings  shall  take  place 
and  be  in  lieu  of  those  provided  by  the  sixth  section  of  the  act  of  the  22d 
of  February,  A.  D.  1855  ;  also,  that  all  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees 
as  aforesaid,  five  members  thereof  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  trans- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  33 

action  of  business,  as  now  provided  by  the  first  section  of  the  act  of  As- 
sembly, approved  the  nth  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1859. 

Fifth.  That  so  much  of  the  seventh  section  of  the  act  of  Assembly,  ap- 
proved the  22d  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1855,  as  provides  "  that  the  pupils 
shall  themselves,  at  such  proper  times  and  seasons  as  shall  be  prescribed 
by  the  board  of  trustees,  perform  all  the  labor  necessary  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  farm,  and  shall  then  be  instructed  and  taught  all  things  necessary 
to  be  known  by  a  farmer,  it  being  the  design  and  intention  of  this  act  to 
establish  an  institution  in  which  youth  may  be  so  educated  as  to  fit  them 
for  the  occupation  of  a  farmer,"  be  so  changed  and  modified  as  to  require 
the  students  of  the  said  institution  to  perform  so  much  labor  as  shall,  frcm 
time  to  time,  be  prescribed  by  the  board  of  trustees,  and  shall  best  carry 
out  the  design  of  the  institution  in  promoting  "  the  liberal  and  practical 
educational  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions 
in  life." 

On  behalf  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College. 

JAMES  A.  BEAVER, 

Piesidentof  the  Board. 

<  Seal  of  Pennsylvania  >  JAMES    CALDER, 

\    state  College,  18o9.    ^  ,  o  ,  ^  .i       n  j 

secretary  of  the  Board. 

And  now,  this  18th  day  of  October,  18T5,  the  court  having  perused  and 
examined  the  within  instrument,  and  it  appearing  to  us  that  the  improve- 
ments, alterations,  and  amendments  therein  set  forth  and  contained  are 
lawful,  beneficial,  and  not  injurious  to  the  community,  said  instrument  is 
directed  to  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  prothonotary  of  the  court  of  com- 
mon pleas,  and  notice  is  ordered  to  be  given,  by  publication  in  one  news- 
paper in  said  county  for  at  least  three  weeks,  setting  forth  that  application 
has  been  made  to  the  said  court  to  grant  the  improvements,  alterations, 
aud  amendments  founded  thereon,  and  that  if  no  objection  be  made  thereto, 
the  same  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  a  part  of  the  instrument  upon 
which  said  corporation  was  formed  and  established,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses as  if  the  same  had  originall3'  been  made  a  part  thereof. 

By  the  Couit.  • 

C.  A.  M., 
P.  J. 

Tn  the  Coltrt  op  Common  Pleas  in  and  for  the  County  op  Centre. 

In  the  matter  of  the  petition  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  College,  for  the  amendment  of  their  charter :  And  now,  this 
twenty-second  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1875,  the  petition  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  for  the  amendment  of  the  char- 
ter of  the  said  institution,  having  been  heretofore,  to  wit,  on  the  eighteenth 
da3'  of  October,  A.  D.  187.T,  filed  in  the  office  of  the  prothonotary  of  the 
said  court,  and  due  notice  having  been  inserted  in  a  newspaper  printed  in 
said  county,  in  due  conformity  to  the  law,  therefore,  on  motion  of  McAl- 
lister and  Beaver,  it  is  declared  and  decreed  that  the  several  changes,  alter- 
ations, and  amendments  in  the  said  petition  set  forth  and  contained,  shall 
become  and  be  a  part  of  the  charter  of  the  said  institution.       *         * 

And  it  is  further  ordered  and  decreed  that  the  said  charter,  as  amended, 
shall  be  recorded  in  the  office  for  recording  of  deeds  in  and  for  said  county, 
and  on  said  instrument  being  so  recorded,  the  several  alterations  and 
amendments  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  a  part  of  the  charter  of  the 
said  institution. 

By  the  Court. 

C.  A.  M.,  P.  J. 
3— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


34  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

An  Act  appropriating  money  for  the  payment  of  a  mortgagee  given  lay  tlie  Agri- 
cultural College  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  tlie  Ijouils  secured  tliere'by. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted,  £&c.,  That  the  sum  of  eighty  thousand  dollars 
be  and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of  the  State  treasury,  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  off  and  extinguishing  the  mortgage  given  by  the  Agi'i- 
cultural  College  of  Pennsylvania  to  Edward  C.  Humes  and  A.  0.  Hiester 
in  trust,  and  to  secure  the  payment  of  eighty  thousand  dollars  of  bonds 
therein  specified ;  said  mortgage  being  dated  the  thirty-first  day  of  May, 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-six,  and  recorded  in  Centre  county,  in  mort- 
gage book  F,  one  hundred  and  nineteen  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-four, 
inclusive  ;  Provided,  That  but  forty  thousand  dollars  shall  be  paid  in  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  and  the  other  forty  thousand  in 
the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-nine. 

Section  2.  That  upon  the  payment  of  the  said  sum  of  eighty  thousand 
dollars,  as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  State  Treasurer,  without 
delay,  to  certify  the  fact  of  such  payment,  under  his  hand  and  seal  of  of- 
fice, to  the  recorder  of  deeds  of  said  county  of  Centre,  who  shall  there- 
upon enter  satisfaction  on  said  mortgage,  and  record  said  certificate  as  evi- 
dence of  his  authority  therefor. 

Section  3.  The  State  Treasurer  shall  not  disburse  any  of  the  moneys 
herein  appropriated  until  satisfactory  proof  has  been  made  to  him  that,  the 
following  reductions  have  been  made  in  the  salaries  of  all  officers  and  em- 
ployes engaged  in  said  institution,  namely :  Ten  per  centum  on  all  salaries 
between  eight  hundred  dollars  and  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  fifteen  per 
centum  on  all  salaries  over  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

Approved — The  twelfth  da}-  of  June,  A.  D.  1878. 

J.  F.  HARTRANFT. 


Legislative  Document,  No.  18. 


MINUTES 


MEETINGS  AND   TESTIMONY 


State  College,  Centre  County,  Pa., 
Tuesday,  10  o'' clock,  o,.  m.,  October  ^,  1881. 

The  committee  appointed  under  the  resolution  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  approved  April  28,  i88l,  met  as  above,  upon  the  call 
of  the  chairman.  The  following  members  were  present :  Messrs.  C.  T.  Alex- 
ander, Amos  Mylin,  and  Evan  Holben,  of  the  Senate ;  and  Messrs.  George 
W.  Hall,  W.  B.  Roberts,  Alfred  Slack,  James  Millham,  and  John  Fenlon,  of 
the  House  of  Representatives. 

On  motion,  C.  T.  Alexander  was  elected  chairman,  and  George  W.  Hall 
was  elected  Secretary,  when  the  preamble  and  resolution  of  April  28, 
l88l,  and  the  act  of  Congress  July  2,  1862,  and  the  various  acts  of  As- 
sembly passed  in  reference  to  the  State  College,  were  read,  and,  on  motion, 
the  committee  took  a  recess  to  view  the  college  building,  class-rooms,  water- 
works, experimental  farm,  and  out-buildings,  &c.  Upon  reconvening,  the 
committee  heard  several  of  the  professors  in  regard  to  the  method  of  teach- 
ing, etc.,  and  examined  Prof.  John  Hamilton,  the  treasurer,  as  to  the  ac- 
counts. 

On  motion  of  G.  W.  Hall,  it  was  agreed,  that, inasmuch  as  the  preamble 
accompanying  the  original  resolution,  under  which  the  committee  has  been 
appointed,  contemplated  a  very  searching  and  complete  investigation  of 
the  State  College,  the  revenues  and  expenditures,  courses  of  stud3%  &c., 
the  subject  of  the  experimental  farms,  etc.,  and  as  the  subject  would  de- 
tain the  members  of  the  general  committee  for  many  daj's,  at  great  per- 
sonal inconvenience  to  themselves,  as  also  to  the  officers  and  professors  of 
the  college,  mainly  owing  to  the  lack  ot  accommodations  for  visitors,  it  was 
resolved  that  the  subject  matter  be  referred  to  a  sub-committee  of  four,  to 
whom  should  be  added  the  chairman  (Mr.  Alexander)  of  the  general  com- 
mittee, and  the^'  to  report  to  the  committee,  at  a  meeting  to  be  called  hy 
the  chairman  of  the  general  committee. 

On  motion,  at  H.4u,  p.  m.,  the  committee  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  Bush 
House  parlor,  Bellefonte,  Pennsylvania,  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m.,  to-morrow,  Wed- 
nesday, Octoi)er,  5,  188L 

GEO.  W.  HALL,  Secretary. 


36  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Bush  House,  Bellefonte,  Pa., 
Wednesday  October  J,  1881^  9,  a.  m. 
Committee  met.     Present,   viz:    Messrs.  Alexander,  chairman,   Mylin, 
Newmyer,  Roberts,  Slack,  Fenlon  and  George  W.  Hall,  secretary. 

Messrs.  Holben  and  Millham,  having  left  on  early  trains  for  their  homes, 
being  excused  ;  Senator  Newmyer,  of  the  committee  having  arrived  during 
the  previous  evening,  was  excused  from  further  attendance  at  the  meeting 
of  the  committee,  to  allow  him  to  visit  the  State  College  dui'ing  the  day. 
The  chair  then  appointed  the  following  as  the  sub-committee,  under  the 
resolution  of  last  night :  Messrs.  Mylin,  chairman,  Roberts,  Newmyer  and 
Hall,  along  with  Senator  C.  T.  Alexander. 

On  motion,  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  call  of  the  chairman. 

GrEO.  W.  HALL,  Secretary. 


The  sub-committee  met,  and  agreed  to  meet  at  the  State  College,  on 
Tuesday,  November  15.  1881,  or  at  the  call  of  the  chairman  of  the  sub- 
committee. 


Harrisburg,  Pa.,  Senate  Committee-Room, 
Tuesday,  Jayiuary  17^  1882.,  lO.SO,  a.  m. 

The  sub-committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  investigating  com- 
mittee, appointed  at  Bellefonte,  Pa.,  October  5,  1881,  met  as  above,  in 
pursuance  to  the  call  of  the  chairman.  Senator  Mj^lin.  Present,  Messrs. 
Mylin,  Newmyer,  Alexander,  Roberts,  and  Hall. 

On  motion,  Mr.  George  W.  Hall  was  elected  secretary  of  the  sub-com- 
mittee. 

Mr.  John  Hamilton,  treasurer  of  the  State  College,  being  present  with 
his  account  books,  vouchers,  &c.,  he  was  examined  at  some  length  in  re- 
gard to  the  expenditures  of  the  institution. 

(Recess  until  3.30  o'clock,  p.  m.) 


S.SO  o'clock,  p.  m. 

All  members  present,  when,  after  a  free  discussion  as  to  the  powers 
and  duties  of  the  general  committee,  and  on  motion  of  Senator  Newmyer, 
it  was 

Resolved,,  that  the  sub-committee  agree  to  at  once  wait  upon  and  confer 
with  the  Attorney  General  of  the  State,  Hon.  H.  W.  Palmer,  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  authority  of  the  general  committee  to  incur  expenses  to  be  paid 
out  of  the  State  Treasury.  After  leaving  the  Attorney  General,  the  sub- 
committee unanimously  agreed  that  the  sub-committee  had  an  interview 
with  the  Attorney  General  in  regard  as  to  whether  the  expenses  incurred 
by  the  general  committee  in  the  prosecution  of  the  investigation  author- 
ized by  concurrent  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  Pamphlet 
Laws  of  1881,  pp.  180  and  181,  could  be  paid  by  the  State  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  said  resolution,  to  which  he  replied  in  substance  as  follows  : 

That  the  resolution  itself  did  not  provide  for  the  paj^ment  of  any  ex- 
penses incurred  by  said  committee,  but  that  the  spirit,  the  intent  of 
the  preamble  and  resolution,  authorized  the  necessary  means  to  carry  into 
eflect  its  spirit  and  purpose,  and  furthermore  that  any  subsequent   Legis- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  37 

lature  could  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  necessaiy  expenses  incurred 
by  the  said  committee  incident  to  the  investigation  aforesaid,  without  any 
violation  of  the  Constitution,  adopted  by  the  people  December,  1873. 
The  following  was  then  offered  by  Mr.  Hall,  and  unanimously  adopted  : 
Besoli-ed  1.  That  the  chairman  of  the  general  committee  and  this  sub- 
committee be  requested  to  employ  a  stenographer  to  report  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  general  committee  and  its  sub-committees  at  their  sessions, 
Provided,  The  said  stenographer  rely  for  his  compensation  entirely  upon 
the  passage  of  an  appropriation  by  the  succeeding  Legislature. 
(Six  p.  M.,  recess  until  7.30,  p.  m.) 


7.S0  o^clock^p.  m.,  January  17,  1882. 

R'isolved  2.  That  this  sub-committee  request  the  treasurer  of  the  State 
College  to  prepare  and  present  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  committee, 
1st,  a  statement,  with  the  queries  as  propounded  by  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  on  February  2,  1874,  and  answers  to  said  queries  up  to 
and  inclusive  of  the  year  1881  ;  and  2d,  a  statement  of  the  cost  of  the  ex- 
perimental farms  connected  with  the  college,  with  a  detailed  statement  for 
each  year  to  close  of  1881,  of  the  income  and  receipts  of  said  farms, 
and  of  the  profits  and  losses  of  said  farms ;  and  3d,  statements  of  receipts, 
and  expenditures  from  different  funds  donated  to  the  college  since  its  oK 
ganization  to  December  31,  1881  and  showing  the  principle  of  said  funds 
on  hand  December  31,  1881,  with  amount  of  cost  of  buildings  as  erected 
to  close  of  1881,  and  the  amount  expended  for  repairs  annually,  and  the 
condition  of  each  and  all  such  buildings  at  the  close  of  1881. 

Adopted,  as  was  also  the  resolution,  viz  : 

Resolved,  That  in  order  to  facilitate  the  labors  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed under  the  above  recited  resolutions,  that  the  committee  proceed 
in  the  investigation  in  the  manner  following  : 

1st.  To  inquire  whether  the  present  management  of  the  college  is  in 
compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress  July  2,  1862, 
and  the  several  acts  of  assembly  of  Pennsylvania  in  relation  thereto. 

2d.  To  examine  into  the  accounts  of  the  said  college  to  discover  wheth- 
er or  not  the  interest  derived  from  the  fund  realized  from  the  sale  of  the 
land  scrip  fund  has  been  duly  expended  in  accordance  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  said  act  of  Congress,  above  recited. 

3d.  To  inquire  how  the  several  appropriations  made  by  the  several  acts 
of  the  Legislature  of  Penns3'lvania  to  said  college  have  been  expended. 

4th.  To  examine  into  all  other  funds  received  by  said  college  whether 
from  individual  contributions  or  receipts  from  students,  and  ascertain  if 
they  have  been  honestly  appropriated  and  accounted  for. 

5th.  To  examine  the  experimental  farms  and  ascertain  the  amount  of  in- 
come derived  thereat  and  of  funds  appropriated  to  each  out  of  the  general 
fund,  their  usefulness  as  such,  and  whether  the  funds  appropriated  to  each 
have  been  honestly  appropriated  or  expended. 

The  following  resolution  was  offered  and  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  all  persons  who  have  any  complaints  or  allegations  to 
make  against  the  management  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  be  invited 
to  forward  to  the  committee  at  Harrisburg  on  or  before  March  20,  1882, 
any  statement  in  writing  they  desire  to  make. 

Resolved,  To  adjourn,  to  meet  on  Januar3^  18,  1882,  9,  a.  m.,  in  Senate 
commit  tee-rooms. 


3S  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  Senate  Committee-Rooms, 

January  18,  1882,  9  o'' clock,  a.  m. 

Sub-committee  met  in  pursuance  to  the  adjournment  last  night.  Pre- 
sent, Messrs.  Mylin,  Newmyer,  Alexander,  Roberts,  and  Hall. 

On  motion,  the  minutes  of  the  session  of  yesterday  were  read  and  ap- 
proved. 

Mr.  John  Hamilton  was  recalled,  and  the  sub-committee  heard  him  fully 
in  regard  to  the  funds  and  accounts  of  the  institution  for  the  past  five 
years. 

Q.  What  is  the  endowment  fund  of  the  college  ? 

A.  $500,000. 

Q.  How  is  it  secured  ? 

A.  By  a  bond  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  dated  for  fifty  years,  due 
February  1,  1922,  interest  payable  semi-annually,  February  and  August  1. 

Q.  How  was  the  principal  of  $50i',000  made  up;  was  it  the  sum  gotten 
from  the  sale  of  United  States  land  scrip  ? 

A.  1  understand  that  the  total  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  United  States 
land  scrip  was  $439,186  80,  and  out  of  that  sum  one  tenth  was  devoted 
by  acts  of  Assembly  to  the  purchase  of  three  experimental  farms,  at  a  cost 
oif  $43,886  50,  reducing  the  original  sum  to  $395,300  80;  subsequently  the 
Legislature  bj^  act  appropriated  sufficient  sum  to  make  the  principal  of  the 
fund  $500,000.  I  am  not  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  statements  in  the  ad- 
dress published  by  the  State  College  to  swear  to  the  accuracy,  but  I  be- 
lieve them  to  be  correct. 

Q.  What  does  the  statement  j'ou  now  present  before  this  committee 
show  on  their  face,  and  are  they  correct  to  the  best  of  your  knowledge? 

A.  They  are  a  schedule  of  educational  expenses  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College  for  the  years  1871  to  1881,  inclusive,  and  as  near  correct  as 
they  can  be  when  made  up  in  the  limited  time  given  me  to  collate  the  same, 
and  may  possibly  have  an  unimportant  error  therein. 

(Statements  verified  by  private  mark.) 

Q.  Have  you  the  treasurer's  account  book,  showing  the  receipts  and 
disbursements  from  1877,  January  1,  to  1881,  December  31  ? 

A.  I  have,  and  now  before  us. 

Q.  What  were  .the  cash  receipts  for  each  of  the  years  1877,  1878,  1879, 
1880,  1881,  and  from  what  source  were  the  same  derived  ?  Do  not  include 
therein  any  money  borrowed  from  bank. 

A.  For  1877,  $39,019  80,  viz: 

Interest  from  the  State, $30,OnO  00 

From  students, 4,095  67 

From  college  farm, 4,924  13 

Q.  What  were  the  expenditures  for  1877? 

A.  $71,506  15,  which  sum  includes  the  payments  of  borrowed  money. 

State  Treasurer  Butler  was  called  : 

Q.  Have  you  in  your  charge  a  bond  for  the  principal  of  the  fund  for  the 
benefit  of  the  State  Agricultural  College  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  this  is  the  bond. 

Q.  What  is  the  amount,  and  when  is  the  interest  payable,  and  when  the 
principal  ? 

A.  February  1 ,  1872  for  $500,000  ;  interest  payable  February  and  August 
1,  and  principal  payable  February  1,  1922. 

Q.  By  whom  is  bond  signed  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  39 

A.  J.  W.  Geary,  Governor;  R.  W.  Mackey,  Treasurer;  J.  F.  Hartranft, 
Auditor  General. 

(Copy  of  the  bond  is  herewith  attached.) 

United  States  of  America  : 

Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania. 
Six  Per  Cent  Loan.  Redeemable  Fifty  Years. 

Under  Act  of  April  S,  1872.      $500,000  $500,000 

From  February  i,  1872. 

This  certifies  that  there  is  due  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylva- 
nia to  the  Agricultural  College  land  scrip  fund  of  Pennnsylvania,  the 
sum  of  $500,000,  payable  after  fifty  3'ears,  from  the  first  day  of  February, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  with  interest  on  the  same,  at 
the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  semi-annually,  on  the  first  days 
of  February  and  August  of  each  year,  at  the  Treasuiy  of  said  Common- 
wealth, to  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  according  to  the  several 
acts  of  Assembly  in  relation  thereto.  This  bond  is  authorized  b}-  the  act 
of  Assembly  entitled  :  "An  act  directing  the  sale  of  the  bonds  composing 
the  Agricultural  College  land  scrip  fund,  and  authorizing  the  issue  of 
a  new  bond  in  lieu  thereof,  and  abolishing  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
created  by  act  of  April  1,  A.  P.  1863." 

Approved  April  3,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  is 
not  transferable. 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  June  28.  1872. 
Countersigned : 
R.  W.  Mackey,  iitate  Treasurer.    J.  F-  Hartranft,  Auditor  General. 

Jno.  W.  Geary,  Governor. 

Registered  in  i\  uditor  General's  OflBce,  July  10, 1812. 

D.  C.  Maurer, 
For  Auditor  General. 

Besolved.,  That  the  sub-committee  now  adjourn  to  meet  in  Harrisburg, 
Pa.,  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m.,  Tuesday,  March  21,  1882. 
Adopted, 

GEO.  W.  HALL,  Secretary. 


Senate  Committee-Rooms, 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  March  21,  1882,  Tuesday,  Bo^clock,  a.  m. 

Sub-committee  met,  as  per  adjournment.  Present,  viz  :  Senators  New- 
myer,  Alexander,  Representatives  Roberts  and  Hall. 

In  the  absence  of  Senator  Mylin,  chairman  of  the  sub-committee,  Hon. 
W.  B.  Roberts  was,  on  motion,  called  to  the  chair. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  session  of  the  sub-committee  were  read  and  duly 
approved,  when,  on  motion  of  Senatof  Newmyer,  the  person  selected  as  the 
stenographer  of  the  committee,  Mr.  J.  Irwin  Hagerman,  was  sworn. 

Again,  on  motion,  Prof.  John  Hamilton  was  called,  and  examined  as  to  the 
queries  propounded  by  and  in  a  resolution  passed  at  the  last  meeting.  (See 
printed  tabulated  queries  prepared  by  the  chairman  at  the  direction  of  the 
sub-committee,  and  the  answers  given  by  Prof.  John  Hamilton  ;  for  details 
of  testimony  hereon,  see  reporter's  notes.) 

(Recess  taken  at  1  o'clock,  p.  m.,  for  dinner,  until  2.30,  p.  m.) 


40  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Sub-committee  met  at  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m.,  (Mr.  Bierly,  member  of  the  gen- 
eral committee  being  present.)  Prof.  John  Hamilton's  examination  was 
continued  until  6  o'clock,  p.  m.,  when  a  recess  was  taken  until  7.30  o'clock, 

p.    M. 


Sub-committee  met  at  7.30  o'clock,  p.  m.,  and  went  into  a  thorough  ex- 
amination of  the  books  and  accounts  of  the  treasurer,  scrutinizing  the  or- 
ders, checks,  and  various  entries  of  the  same  for  the  year  1881. 

On  motion,  at  11  o'clock,  p.  m.,  adjourned  to  meet  to-morrow,  (Wednes- 
day,) 9,  A.  M.,  March  22,  1882. 

GEO.  W.  HALL,  Secretary. 


Senate  Commtttee-Rooms, 
Wednesday,  9,  a.  m.,  March  22,  1882. 

Sub-committee  met.  Present,  Senators  Mylin,  Newmyer,  Alexander,  and 
Representatives  Roberts  and  Hall  and  Representative  Bierly  of  the  gen- 
eral committee. 

On  motion,  the  minutes  of  the  three  sessions  of  the  sub-committee,  held 
on  the  2 1st  instant,  were  read  and  approved. 

Mr.  Bierly  presented  a  paper  containing  fifteen  queries  in  regard  to  the 
State  College,  which  were  answered  by  Prof.  John  Hamilton.  (See  re- 
porter's notes.) 

Messrs.  Hon.  V.  E.  Piolette  and  S.  W.  Starkweather  were  sworn  and 
examined  at  length.  Mr.  Gabriel  Hiester  was  affirmed,  and,  on  motion,  the 
sub-committee,  at  one  o'clock,  agreed  to  a  recess  until  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 


Sub-committee  met  again  at  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m.,  when  Mr.  Gabriel  Hiester 
was  examined,  and  Hon.  Francis  Jordan  was  affirmed  and  examined,  also 
Mr.  McKee,  a  graduate,  was  sworn  and  examined  at  length.  Prof.  John 
Hamilton,  business  manager  and  treasurer,  was  recalled  and  examined, 
when  the  sub-committee  went  into  executive  session,  and  then  took  a  re- 
cess until  7.30,  p.  M. 

An  anonymous  letter  from  College  township,  March  20,  1882,  was  re- 
ceived, but  the  sub-committee  decided  to  take  no  notice  of  the  same. 


7.30  o^clock.p.  w.,  Mar^ch  22,  1882. 

Mr.  W.  B.  Huston,  of  the  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs  office,  sworn  and 
produced  the  record  book  of  the  commissioners  for  the  sale  of  the  agri- 
cultural land  scrip,  and  the  minutes  of  said  commissioners  were  read  and 
examined. 

On  motion  of  Senator  Newmyer,  the  chairmen  of  the  general  and  sub- 
committee were  authorized  to  issue  subpoena  to  L.  Rhone,  et  al.  duces 
tecum,  to  be  and  appear  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  sub-committee.  Com- 
munication was  received,  and  read,  from  Leonard  Rhone  as  to  the  college 
management,  &c. 

On  motion  of  Senator  Newmyer,  the  sub-committee  agreed  to  meet  in 
Philadelphia,  St.  Cl3ud  Hotel,  on  Thursday,  «,  p.  m..  May  11,  1882. 

The  deeds  of  the  real  estate  of  the  State  College  were  exhibited. 

At  10.45,  p.  M.,  adjourned. 

GEO.  W.  HALL,  Secretary. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  41 

In  pursuance  of  adjournment  sub-committee  met  in  Capitol  building, 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  March,  21,  18«2. 

Present^ Messrs.  Alexander,  Roberts,  Newmyer,  and  Hall. 

In  the  absence  of  the  chairman,  Mr.  Roberts  was  appointed  chairman 
pro  tern. 

Minutes  of  last  meeting  read. 

J.  Irwin  Hagerman,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa.,  was  duly  sworn  as  stenographer 
for  the  committee. 

The  committee  proceeded  to  take  the  following  testimon^^ : 

Professor  John  Hamilton,  recalled : 

(By  Mr.  Alexander.) 

Q.  Have  you,  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  passed  at  the  former  meeting 
of  the  sub-committee,  prepared  answers  to  the  categorical  questions  sub- 
mitted to  you  ? 

A.  I  have  to  most  of  the  inquiries. 

Q.   Have  you  them  with  you  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Will  you  produce  them  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Witness  produces  paper  No.  I  and  reads  question  and  answers  as  follows  : 

I. —  Organization  and  Endowment. 

1.  Give  the  full  corporate  name  of  your  institution. 

In  July,  1862,  the  name  was  "  The  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania," 
by  decree  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  of  Centre  county,  January  26,  1874, 
it  was  changed  to  "  The  Pennsylvania  State  College." 

2.  Where  is  it  located  ? 

At  the  postal  village  of  State  College,  Centre  county,  Pennsylvania. 

3.  Give  the  dates  of  its  charter  and  of  the  receipt  of  the  national  land- 
grant. 

Charter  approved  February  22,  1855  ;  modified  March  IT,  1859,  May  1, 
1862,  January  26,  1874,  and  November  22,  1875.  A  small  amount  was  re- 
ceived as  income,  derived  from  sales  under  acts  of  April  1 ,  1863,  and  April 
11,  1866;  full  receipt  (under  act  of  February  19,  1867,)  beginning  Febru- 
ary 1,  1868. 

4.  Give  the  date  of  its  organization  under  the  grant. 
June  15,  1864. 

5.  How  many  acres  of  public  lands,  or  equivalent  land  scrip,  has  your 
institution  received  ? 

Seven  hundred  and  eighty  thousand. 

6.  How  much  of  this  has  been  sold  ? 
All. 

7.  For  what  sum  per  acre  was  your  land  or  scrip  sold  ? 
Fifty -six  thirty  one  hundredths  cents  per  acre. 

8.  What  was  the  total  amount  received  therefore  ? 

Four  hundred  and  thirty-nine  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-six 
eighty  one  hundredths  dollars. 

9.  How  has  it  been  invested?     Explain  this  point  fully. 

The  sum  of  $43,^86  50  was  expended  (as  authorized  by  section  fifth  of 
the  act  of  Congress  of  July  2.  1h62,  known  as  the  Agricultural  College 
Land-Grant  Act,  and  by  section  second  of  act  of  Assembly  of  February 
19,  1867,)  in  the  purchase  of  lands  for  experimental  farms,  as  follows: 
Farm  in  Chester  county,  $17,750  ;  farm  in  Centre  county,  $S,000  ;  farm  in 


42 


Report  of  the  Committee. 


[No.  18, 


Indiana  county,  $18,136  50.  (See  report  of  the  Surveyor  General  for 
18«8,  page  11.)  The  remaining  portion,  ($395,300  30,)  after  a  temporary 
Inves'tment  in  other  securities,  was,  by  act  of  Assembly  of  April  3,  187  ', 
re-invested,  in  connection  with  certain  other  funds  for  the  endowment  of 
the  college,  in  a  fifty-year  bond  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  payable 
April  3,  1922,  upon  which  the  State  Treasurer  is  directed  to  pay  to  the 
college  three  per  cent,  on  the  first  of  February  and  August,  annually,  in 
each  \'ear. 

10.  How  much  land  or  scrip  remains  unsold? 
None. 

11.  What  disposition  do  you  propose  to  make  of  the  unsold  land  or 
scrip  ? 

See  preceding  answer. 

12.  State  in  the  following  blank  form  the  number  of  benefactions,  (dona- 
tions and  legacies,)  other  than  the  national  grant,  received  by  your  insti- 
tution, the  amounts  thereof,  the  object  to  which  each  has  been  applied,  for 
the  whole  time  since  organization  or  since  receipt  of  the  aforesaid  land- 
grant. 


Amount  or 

value  of 

benefact'n 


Year. 


The  object  to  which  benefaction  has  been  applied. 


$50,000  00 

5,000  00 

10,000  00 

11,865  00 

25,000  00 

12,000  00 

49,900  00 

500  00 

7,000  00 

5,000  00 

104,699  70 

1,500  00 

1,420  00 

80,000  00 


1857 
1858 
1859 


1861 

1869 
1870 
1872 
187- 

1878 


Erection  of  college  building. 


Two  hundred  acres  of  land. 

Erection  of  colle<jre  building. 

Geological  collection  of  the  State. 

To  stock  and  equipment,  experimental  farm. 

Toerectnew  and  repair  old  buildingson  Eastern  experimental  farm. 

Invested  as  endowment  fund. 

To  construct  water-works. 


To  pay  off  mortgage. 


The  sources  of  these  donations  were  fully  explained  in  paper  (3)  in  an- 
swer to  query  by  sub-committee. 

//. —  Value  of  Property. 

13.  What  is  the  total  value  of  property  of  your  institution  ? 

Nine  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifteen  seventy- 
seven  one  hundredths  dollars,  ($951 ,615  7T.) 

14.  What  is  the  value  of  the  real  estate? 

Four  hundred  and  fifteen,  nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty-six 
fifty  one  hundredths  dollars,  ($415,986  50.) 

15.  State  the  value  of  all  the  income-producing  real  estate  in  which 
your  funds  are  invested,  and  whether  the  value  thereof  has  increased  or 
diminished  since  it  was  acquired.     Please  answer  this  question  in  detail. 

Four  hundred  and  fifty-nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-three 
dollars.  Natural  wear  and  exposure,  together  with  the  depreciation  of 
real  estate  everywhere  since  the  war,  has  doubtless  somewhat  diminished 
its  value  since  it  was  acquired. 

16.  State  the  cost  of  each  building  and  the  uses  to  which  it  is  put. 


Leo.  Doc]     ,  Pennsylvania  State  College.  4.3 

College  building  about  $200,000,  president's  house,  $8.000 ;  vice  pres- 
ident's iiouse,  $1 ,500  ;  barn  $7 ,800  ;  farm-house  $1 ,000  ;  hog-pen,  $1,000  ; 
gate-house,  at  east  entrance,  $^500  ;  gate-house,  at  west  entrance,  $  1 ,100  ; 
engine-house,  $1 ,50(1 ;  dwelling  at  barn,  $700  ;  Central  experimental  farm 
buildings,  $7,000;  Prof  Smith's  house,  $7,000;  water-works,  $12,000; 
steam  heating  apparatus,  $10,000. 

17.  State  from  what  fund  (national  or  other)  each  building  has  been  paid 
for. 

The  college  building,  president's  house,  vice  president's  house,  barn,  part 
of  the  farm-house,  hog-pen,  part  of  east  gate-house,  part  of  west  gate- 
house and  part  of  dwelling  at  the  barn  were  built  before-  and  during  the 
war,  and  were  constructed  from  funds  received  from  the  State  and  citizens 
of  the  State.  The  Central  experimental  farm  buildings  were  erected  from 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  one  hundred  acres  of  land.  The  Legislature 
appropriated  $5,000  for  the  repair  and  ei'ection  of  buildings  on  the  Eastern 
experimental  farm.  The  balance  of  the  buildings  were  built  from  dona- 
tions, income  from  college  farm  and  college  building,  and  a  portion  re- 
mains unpaid. 

1 8.  What  is  the  value  of  the  apparatus  of  instruction  ? 

Eleven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-two  four  one-hundredths 
dollars,  ($11,722  ('4.) 

19.  State,  in  the  following  blank  form,  the  annual  and  total  investments 
on  account  of  ^^our  experimental  farm  and  of  your  machine  shop,  if  th'.se 
are  connected  with  your  institution. 

Experimental     Machine  Total. 

Farms.  Shops. 

1868, $1,000 

1869,  ... 5,000 

1870, 6,000 

1871, 6,0(i0 

1872,  .      .  6,000 

1873 6,000 

1874, 2,750 

1875, 2,700 

1876, 2,600 

1877, 2,500 

1878, 2,200 

1879, 2.350 

1880, 2,000 

1881, 2,000         $317  65 


Total, $49,100         $317  65     $49,417  65 

(The  experimental  farms  had,  in  addition  to  above,  their  entire  produce 
amounting  to  about  $50,000.) 

20.  State  the  amount  of  the  productive  funds  of  your  institution. 
Five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

III. — Financial  Management,  &c. 

21.  State  fully  the  method  of  man.aging  the  financial  affairs  of  your 
institution,  especially  the  position,  powers,  and  remuneration  of  its  treas- 
urer ;  whether  or  not  he  is  under  bonds  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his 
duty ;  the  checks  adopted  for  the  regulation  of  his  actions,  etc. 

All  moneys  from  all  sources,  except  the  interest  received  from  the  State, 


44  Report  of  the  Committee.    '  [No.  18, 

are  received  by  the  president  of  the  faculty  of  the  college,  or  by  the  busi- 
ness manager  acting  for  him,  and  are  paid  into  the  hands  of  the  treasurer 
of  the  college.  Moneys  are  paid  out  b}'  the  treasurer  only  upon  orders  of 
the  board  of  trustees,  or  of  the  president  of  the  faculty  for  the  purposes, 
and  within  the  limits,  prescribed  by  the  schedule  of  appropriations.  The 
treasurer  of  the  college  is  elected  annually  by  the  board  of  trustees  to  be 
custodian  of  its  funds.  He  receives  no  salary,  and  is  required  by  the 
board  of  trustees  to  give  a  bond  of  $50,000.  The  only  cheek  is  inability 
to  pay  except  upon  a  written  order  of  the  president  of  the  faculty  or  the 
board  of  trustees. 

22.  Have  any  of  the  funds  of  your  institution  been  loaned  to  any  of  its 
officers  ?  If  so,  state  the  amounts  loaned  to  each,  the  conditions  of  the 
loan,  and  the  securities  accepted  for  repayment. 

None. 

23.  Has  any  portion  of  the  funds  of  your  institution  been  lost?  If  so, 
state  when  and  how  said  loss  occurred,  its  amount,  the  defaulting  or 
bankrupt  person,  and  the  measures  adopted  for  its  recovery. 

None. 


Leg.  Doc] 


Pennsylvania  State  College. 


45 


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Report  of  ths  Committee. 


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Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  41 

26.  After  deducting  from  the  total  expenditures  of  your  institution  the 
expenses  incurred  on  account  of  real  estate,  rents,  and  repairs,  what  has 
been  the  average  cost  of  educating  a  pupil  in  each  of  the  collegiate  years 
since  your  endowment  by  the  national   land-grant  ? 

It  is  impracticable  to  get  at  the  cost  for  the  several  3'ears  past,  but  for 
1881  the  cost  has  been  as  follows  :  Whole  number  of  students,  as  pe;*  cata- 
logue of  1880  and  1881,  is  164;  cost  of  instruction  department,  $17,367  44; 
making  an  average  cost  of  $lu5  90. 

VL^Debts. 

27.  Give  detailed  statement  of  the  amount  of  each  present  debt  of  your 
institution,  the  manner  of  and  reasons  for  incurring  the  same,  the  mode  of 
liquidation  adopted,  and  any  other  particulars  of  interest. 

On  the  31st  day  of  December,  l»8i,  the  total  indebtedness  of  the  col- 
lege was  $50,440  35.  Part  of  it  was  incurred  in  1866  and  the  balance  at 
sundry  times  since,  and  mostly  in  the  erection  of  water-works,  heating 
college  building  with  steam,  and  in  the  erection  of  new  house  for  a  pro- 
fessor. The  method  of  liquidation  is  through  a  sinking  fund  appropria- 
tion each  year.  For  complete  list  of  indebtedness  and  receipts  see  the 
balance  sheet  of  the  college  made  out  December  31,  1881,  and  appended 
to  this  report. 

VII. — Subfiequent  Occupations  of  the  Students. 

28.  Report,  as  accurately  as  possible,  the  number  of  students  in  your 
institution  who  have  regularly  pursued  agricultural  or  mechanical  occupa- 
tions since  leaving  your  institution. 

The  catalogue  of  the  college  for  1881  shows  that  one  sixth  of  the  alumni 
of  the  college  are  farmers ;  we  have  no  statistics  concerning  students  who 
did  not  graduate,  but  the  proportion  of  farmers  among  them  is  Very  much 
larger. 

VIII. —  Character  of  Instruction. 

29.  Give  statement  in  the  following  blank  form  of  the  names,  titles, 
duties,  salaries,  and  money  value  of  the  allowances  of  the  president  and 
the  several  professors,  tutors,  and   instructors  of  your  institution,  and* 
state  the  number  of  hours  occupied  b}^  each  in  actual  instruction  in  the 
collegiate  year. 


48 


Report  of  the  Committee. 


[No.  18, 


James  Y.McKoe,  A.  At.,  Vice  President, 

I'rofessor  of  English  Lit.  and  Greek,     Teaches  Klietorlc,  Lojrlc,   English  Lit- 
erature, and  higher  Greek  and  Latin.  $1,500  00 


V\'Ullam  A.  Buckhout,  M.  S.,  Professor 
of  Botany  and  Horticulture,     .... 


C.  Alfred  Smith,  M.  S.  A.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry,  .... 

C.  F.  Reeves,  M.  S.,  Professor  of  Mod- 
ern Languages, 

I.   Thornton    Osmond,   M.  S.,    M.   A., 
Professor  of  Thyslcs, 

Josiah    Jackson,    M.    A.,    Mathemallcs 
and  Astronomy, 

AV.  H.  Jordon,  M.  S.,  Agriculture  and 
Agricultural  Cliemistry,      

Louis  H.   Barnard,  (!.   E.,   Civil  Engi- 
neering,     


E.  H.  Christie,  M.  A.,  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor of  Ancient  Languages,      .  j 

Louis  E.  Reber,  B.  and  S.,  Military  In-' 
structor  and  As&lstant  In  Preparatory ' 
Department,      ... 

Miss  A.  M.  Cooper,  B.  S.,  Lady  Prin- 
cipal and  Asbistar  t  in  the  Preparatory , 
Department,  .  | 

J.  VV.  Heston,  B.  A.,  Principal  Pre- 
paratory Department, 

D.  O.  Etiers.  B.  A.,  Assistant  In  Pre- 
paratory Department,  .       .  .    . 

Miss  Hattie  F.  Foster,  Instructor  In 
•    Mnslc, 


While  acting  President  receives  addi- 
tional salary,      ...       .  .... 

Teaches  Botany  and  Horticulture  and 
h  18  charge  of  Zoology  and  Geology 
also,      .   > 


500  00 


1,500  00 


Teaches    General    Chemistry    an  1    has 

charge  of  Quantitative  J^aboratory,     1,500  00  j 

Teaches  French    and    German    and    Is  ^  | 

Librarian,  |  1,000  00  ' 

Teaches    Physics    and    has    charge    of 

Physical  Laboratory,  ....  j   1,350  00 

Teaches  Pure  Mathematics  and  Astron- 
omy and  has  temporary  charge  of 
Mechanical  work-ehop, j   1,200  00 

Teaches  Agricultural  Cliemistry,  The- 
ory and  Practice  of  Agriculture,  Vet- 
erinary, Principles  of  Breeding,  &c.,  i 
and  lias  charge  of  Qu;tiititatlve  La- 


boratory, 


1,500  00 


Teaches  Descriptive! Geometry,  Survey-' 
lug.  Constructing  of  Bridges,  &c.,  | 
and  has  cliargc  of  Practical  Survey- 
lug,  and  Topographical  and  Geo-  I 
graphical  Drawing, i  1,200  00 


Teaches  Greek  and  Latin  Language  and 
Greek  and  Roman  History, 


Teaches  Military  Art  and  Science,  and 
•assists  la  Preparatory  Department,  . 


Teaches  In  Preparatory  Department.    . 


700  00 

600  00 

500  00 

1,000  00 

300  00 

120  00 

400  00 
150  00 
150  00 

100  00 


50  00 
15  00 

25  00 

30  00 
50  00 
30  00 
30  00 


HO.  Has  your  institution  a  preparatory  course  of  study?     If  so,  state 
the  number  of  years  in  the  course  and  number  of  weeks  in  scholastic  year. 
Yes ;  two  years  of  forty  weeks  each. 

31.  How  many  years  are  occupied  by  your  course  of  instruction  in  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts  ?  Give  the  total  number  of  weeks  in  said 
course. 

Four  years  of  forty  weeks  each. 

32.  Give  the  annual  cost  of  tuition,  the  number  of  free  scholarships  es- 
tablished by  the  State,  and  the  number  of  other  free  scholarships,  and  the 
average  income  from  them. 

No  charge  for  tuition.  There  are  Mty  (5  >)  senatorial  free  scholarships, 
valued  at  forty  dollars  each  per  annum. 

33.  Give,  for  each  collegiate  year  since  your  organization  as  a  college 
of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  the  number  and  sex  of  students  in 
your  preparatory  and  collegiate  courses  of  instruction. 

There  have  been  altogether  since  IHoD  about  fifteen  hundred  students. 
Students  do  not  usually  choose  their  course  so  as  to  continue  in  it,  until  they 


Leo.  Doc] 


Pennsylvania  State  College. 


49 


have  been  for  some  time  in  the  college  ;  this  is  specially  true  of  preparatory 
and  special  students,  so  that  it  is  not  practicable  to  give  accurate  data  in 
answer  to  No.  33. 

34.  Give  for  each  year  of  j^our  preparatory  and  collegiate  courses  the 
number  of  hours  per  week  occupied  bj^  recitations  and  lectures,  as  follows  : 


NUMBER  OF  HOURS  EMPLOYED  PER  WEEK  IN — 

1st  prepara- 
tory year. 

2d  prepara- 
tory year. 

1st  collegi- 
ate year. 

2d  collegi- 
ate year. 

3d  collegi- 
ate year. 

4th  collegi- 
ate year. 

Totals,    .  . 

20 

20 

15 

15 

15 

15 

An  answer  to  the  above  cannot  be  given  unless  we  have  a  definition  of 
terms ;  for  instance,  "  branches  relating  to  agriculture"  may  include  all 
subjects  important  to  the  scientific  and  practical  agriculturist,  such  as 
mathematics,  all  the  ph3'sical  sciences,  political  science,  history,  drawing, 
book-keeping,  &c.,  &c.  We  append  a  circular  of  the  College  giving  the 
course  of  study,  the  subject  of  study,  and  the  hours  per  week  devoted  to 
each  study. 

The  Pennsylvania  State  College 

Offers  instruction  in  a  preparatory  course  ;  in  two  general  courses,  general 
science  and  classic ;  and  in  four  technical  courses,  agriculture,  natural 
history-,  chemistry,  and  phj'sics,  and  civil  engineering.  It  also  admits 
special  students  who  do  not  intend  to  take  all  of  anj^  college  course.  It 
still  further  offers,  to  farmers  and  others  who  cannot  become  students,  a 
farmers'  institute,  or  course  of  lectures,  lasting  two  weeks  in  mid-winter. 
For  particulars  concerning  the  studies,  etc.,  see  other  parts  of  this  circular. 

/  Admission. 

The  college  admits  both  sexes  on  the  following  conditions : 
First.  Candidates  for  the  preparatory  department  must  be  at  least  four- 
teen years  of  age,  and  have  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  common 
school  branches. 

Second.  For  admission  to  the  freshman  class,  general  science  course,  the 
candidate  must  be  at  least  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  pass  a  further  examin- 
ation in  United  States  histor^^,  Olney's  higher  algebra,  (to  quadratics,)  01- 
ney's  geometry,  (to  section  seven,)  Steele's  Fourteen  Weeks  in  Ph3'sics,and 
Houston's  physical  geography,  or  their  equivalents.  For  the  classical 
course,  the  applicant  will  be  examined  in  Ca?sar,  Cicero's  orations,  and 
Xenophon's  anabasis,  instead  of  phj'sics  and  physical  geography.  Candi- 
dates for  either  course  should  have  some  practical  knowledge  of  drawing 
and  book-keeping.  Students  whose  advanced  knowledge  of  some  subjects 
will  enable  them  to  make  up  their  deficiencies  in  others,  ma}'^  be  admitted 
conditionally. 

Location,  Buildings,  etc. 

Situated  in  the  midst  of  a  rolling  valley,  about  ten  miles  in  width,  the 
college  enjoys  a  beautiful  landscape  and  a  healthful  climate.     The  college 
lands  contiguous  to  the  institution — and  so  not  including  the  one-hundred- 
acre  experimental  farms  in  Chester  and  Indiana  counties — are  four  hundred 
4— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


50  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

acres  in  extent,  and  consist  of  farms,  forest,  orchards,  vineyard,  gardens, 
and  ornamental  grounds. 

The  main  building — a  substantial  stone  structure,  two  hundred  and  forty 
feet  in  length,  eighty  feet  in  average  width,  and  five  stories  in  height,  ex-" 
elusive  of  attic  and  basement — contains  the  public  rooms,  such  as  chapel, 
library,  cabiuets,  laboratories,  class-rooms,  and  society  halls,  and  a  large 
number  of  dormitories.  It  is  heated  throughout  by  steam,  and  is  abund- 
antly supplied  with  water  from  an  artesian  well.  The  other  buildings  are 
professors'  houses,  barns,  engine-houses,  etc. 

Museums,  Laboratories,  etc. 

In  geology,  the  college  possesses,  in  addition  to  manj'^  fine  specimens  of 
European  rocks,  the  collection  made  by  Professor  Rogers,  for  the  first 
geological  survey  of  the  State,  and  is  receiving,  from  the  State  geologist,  a 
duplicate  collection  of  the  second  survey,  now  in  progress. 

The  botanical  museum  contains  an  herbarium  of  more  than  three  thou- 
sand species,  a  collection  of  the  woods  of  central  Pennsylvania,  a  collection 
of  the  woods  of  the  United  States,  (numbering  over  four  hundred  spec- 
imens,) specimens  of  cones,  seeds,  etc. 

The  zoological  museum  has  a  small  but  good  collection  of  dr^'  and  alco- 
holic specimens,  articulated  skeletons,  collections  of  insects  injurious  to 
vegetation,  and  of  those  helpful  to  the  farmer,  of  birds,  etc.,  etc. 

In  mechanics,  a  collection  of  models  from  the  Patent  Office  ;  in  cr3-stal- 
lography,  specimen  crystals  and  models,  and  in  metallurg}',  samples  of  ores 
are  available  for  instruction. 

The  botanical,  chemical,  and  physical  laboratories  have  all  the  appliances 
necessary  for  thorough  work  in  the  line  of  these  several  departments,  and 
additions  are  made  to  the  apparatus,  year  by  3'ear,to  increase  the  facilities 
offered  to  the  students. 

The  mechanical  laboratory  has  been  in  operation  but  one  session,  and  has 
been  equipped  for  wood-work  only.  Its  success  has,  however,  encouraged 
the  board  to  exiend  the  work,  and  it  is  now  proposed  to  add,  immediately, 
needful  tools  and  apparatus  for  metal-working.  A  room  has  been  fitted  up 
for  mechanical  drawing. 

The  College  Library,  containing  about  three  thousand  volumes,  mostly 
scientific  and  technical,  and  the  current  issues  of  leading  scientific,  agricul- 
tural, horticultural,  and  literary  periodicals,  is  open  for  daily  use.  The 
student  societies,  also,  have  libraries  for  the  use  of  their  members,  and  so- 
ciety reading-rooms,  which  include  in  their  lists  the  prominent  daily  papers. 

Practicums. 

The  college  has,  from  the  first,  sought  to  combine  practical  with  the- 
oretical instruction,  and  thus  to  fix  in  the  student's  mind  a  knowledge  of 
both  methods  and  principles.  With  this  end  in  view,  a  portion  of  the  stu- 
dent's time  has  been  set  apart  for  this  training,  and  the  number  of  subjects 
in  which  such  instruction  is  given,  and  the  apparatus  for  it  have  been  added 
to,  until  the  range  of  topics  is  quite  extensive,  as  appears  from  the  several 
schedules.  A  portion  of  this  training  is  largely  technical,  and  so  is  almost 
wholly  confined  to  certain  courses.  Other  parts,  however,  are  so  general 
iti  their  character  as  to  be  appropriately  required  of  all  students.  Among 
these  practicums  common  to  all,  the  following  may  be  mentioned  for  the 
sake  of  illustration  :  Book-keeping,  so  important  for  the  right  conduct  of 
all  business  ;  drawing,  free-hand  and  mechanical,  needed  by  individuals  in 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  51 

all  employments  and  professions  ;  military  drill,  required  by  the  law  of 
Congress,  and  helpful  in  securing  right  habits  of  body  and  mind ;  mechanic 
arts,  in  which  is  learned,  among  other  things,  the  making  of  plane  surfaces, 
correct  angles  and  joints,  and  the  care  and  use  of  tools  ;  horticulture,  where 
instruction  is  given  in  all  ordinary  operations  belonging  to  fruit  culture, 
such  as  pruning,  grafting,  budding,  and  propagation  by  cuttings  and  layers; 
and  surveying,  which  acquaints  the  student  with  the  instruments  of  the 
art,  and  trains  him  to  determine  points,  distances,  and  areas.  Some  of 
these  practicums  not  only  give  knowledge  of  almost  universal  use,  but  also 
serve  a  good  purpose  by  developing,  during  the  early  part  of  the  course, 
tastes  and  aptitudes  which  may  determine  the  student's  choice  of  a  technical 
course  and  of  his  life-work. 

'In  each  of  the  technical  courses,  certain  special  lines  of  practice  have  a 
large  amount  of  time  given  thera,  proportionate  to  their  importance  or  sub- 
sequent professional  use.  Each  pi-acticum  is  directed  by  an  instructor 
who  is  familiar  with  both  the  theory  and  the  practice,  and  with  their 
mutual  relations. 

Preparatory  Courses. 

A  s  many  students  come  from  districts  where  there  are  no  advanced 
schools,  it  has  been  found  needful  to  maintain  a  department  which  shall 
prepare  such  persons  for  admission  to  college,  and  shall  at  the  same  time, 
give  a  good  practical  training  to  those  who  are  unable,  from  any  cause,  to 
prolong  their  studies  beyond  the  ordinary  academic  course. 

Applicants  should,  as  stated  on  page  2,  be  at  least  fourteen  years  of  age, 
and  have  a  good  knowledge  of  the  common  English  branches.  Preparatory 
students,  except  those  who  are  under  the  immediate  care  of  their  parents 
and  guardians,  are  required  to  room  in  the  building,  where  they  are  under 
the  supervision  of  the  principal  of  the  department  and  his  assistants  dur- 
ing study  hours ;  and  every  effort  is  made  to  incite  in  them  a  love  of 
study,  and  to  create  and  confirm  habits  favorable  to  it. 

As  there  are  two  general  courses  in  the  college,  there  are  two  prelimi- 
nary courses,  designed  to  prepare  for  these,  respectively.  While  these 
have  much  in  common,  clearness  demands  that  they  be  given  separately. 
They  are  as  follows  : 

Preparatory  Course  in  General  Science. 
First  Year. 

Fall  Session. — Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Physiology,  English  Analysis. 
Winter  Session. — Algebra,   English   Composition,  Physical   Geography, 

Zoology. 
Spring  Session. — Algebra,  English  History,  Botany,  English  Composition. 

Second  Year. 

Fall  Session. — Algebra,  English  History,  Natural  Philosophy,  German. 

Practicum — Drawing,  one  hour  daily. 
Winter  Session. — Algebra,  United  States  History,  Chemistry,  German. 

Practicum — Drawing  and  Book-Keeping,  one  hour  daily. 
Spring  Session. — Geometry,  United  States  History,  Chemistry,  German. 

Practicum — Drawing  and  Book-Keeping,  one  hour  daily. 


62  Report  op  the  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

Preparatory  Course  in  Classics. 

First  Year. 

Fall  Session. — Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Physiology,   Latin    Grammar  and 

Reader. 
Winter  Session. — Algebra,   English   Composition,   Physical   Geography, 

Latin  Reader. 
Spring  Session. — Algebra,   English  History,  Botany,   Csesar  and   Latin 

Composition. 

Second  Year. 

Fall  Session. — Algebra,  English  History,  Caesar  and  Latin  Composition, 
Greek  Grammar  and  Reader. 
Practicum — Drawing,  one  hour  dailj'. 
Winter  Session. — Algebra,  United   States   History,   Cicero's    Orations, 
Greek  Grammar  and  Reader. 
Practicum — Drawing  and  Book-Keeping,  one  hour  daily. 
Spring  Session. — Geometry,  United   States    History,   Ovid,  Xenophon's 
Anabasis. 
Practicum — Drawing  and  Book-Keeping,  one  hour  daily. 

College  Courses General. 

The  college  offers,  as  already  stated,  two  full  courses,  each  of  four 
years'  duration.  That  in  general  science,  probably  the  most  popular  of 
all  college  courses,  embraces  German  and  French,  mathematics,  and  a  fair 
outline  of  the  natural  and  the  metaphysical  sciences.  The  classical  com- 
bines with  the  essentials  of  the  old,  time-honored  ''college  course"  a 
large  amount  of  the  scientific  knowledge  and  the  practical  training  which 
that  course  formerly  lacked.  Each  course,  as  here  taught,  aims  at  the  full 
development  of  the  student's  powers  of  observation  and  of  reasoning. 

At  the  close  of  the  sophomore  year,  the  student  in  either  course  may 
enter  one  of  the  technical  courses. 

The  conditions  for  admission  to  the  freshman  class,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  first  session,  are,  for  the  jjresent,  as  stated  on  page  2.  After  the  year 
1881-S2,  applicants  for  freshman  standing  will  be  examined  on  all  the 
studies  of  one  of  the  preparatory  courses. 

In  the  following  schedule  of  studies,  a  figure  placed  after  any  subject 
indicates  the  number  of  hours  of  recitation  or  of  practice  given  to  that 
study  each  week. 

General  Science  Course. 
Freshman  Class. 

Fall  Session. — Algebra  (3),  Geometry  (3),  German  (5),  Tactics  (4). 

Practicum — Drawing  (4),  Horticulture  (4). 
Winter  Session. — Algebra  (4),  Geometry  (2),  Rhetoric  (4),  German  (5). 

Practicum — Drawing  (2),  Mechanic  Arts  (6). 
Spring  Session. — Trigonometry  (5), Physiology  (4), German  (3), French (3). 

Practicum — Drawing  (4),  Horticulture  (4). 

Sophomore  Glass. 

Fall  Session. — Trigonometry  and  Surveying  (4),  Chemistry  (4),  German 
(3),  French  (4). 
Practicum — Surveying  (6),  Chemistry  (4). 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College. 

Winter  Session.— General   Geometry   (4),    Chemistry 
French  (4). 

Practicum — Chemistry  (8),  Mechanic  Arts  (2). 
Spring  Session. — Chemistry  (3),  Descriptive   Botony    (4),   German    (2), 
French  (3),  General  Geometry  (4). 
Practicum — Chemistry  (6),  Botany  (4). 
[Note. — For  the  General  Geometry  of  this  session,  students  preparing 
for  the  course  in  Agriculture,  or  that  in  Natural  History,  may  substitute 
seven  hours  of  practicum  in  Chemistry.] 

Junior  Class. 

Fall  Session. — Rational  Mechanics  (4),  Chemistry  (3),  Logic  (3),  Animal 
Physiologj-  (4)  or  Differential  Calculus  (3),  (elective). 
Practicum — Mechanics  (4),  Botany  (4),  Physiologj^  (4). 
Winter  Session. — Physics  (4),  Chemistry  (4),  Zoology  (4),  Integral  Cal- 
culus (2)  or  Natural  Theology  (3),  (elective). 
Practicum — Physics  (3),  Zoology  (4),  I3otany  (4). 
Spring  Session. — Phj^sics  (4),  Mineralogy  (3),  Civil  Government  (3),  Eng- 
lish Literature  (5). 
Practicum — Physics  (3). 

Senior  Class. 

Fall  Session — Physics  (4),  Geology  (4),  Mental  Philosophy  (3),  History 
of  Ancient  Philosophy  (3),  English  Literature  (3). 
Practicum — Physics  (4),  Geology  (3). 
Winter  Session. — Geology  (3),  Political  Economy  (3),  Astronomy  (4), 
History  of  Civilization  (4). 
Practicum — Geologj-  (5). 
Spring  Session. — Geology  (3),  Astronomy   (3),  Ethics   (3),   History  of 
English  Literature  (3). 
Practicum — Geology  (5),  Thesis  or  Oration. 

_    .  Classical  Course. 

Freshman  Glass. 

Fall  Session. — Algebra  (3),  Geometry  (3),  Virgil  (5)  Xenophon's  Anabasis 
and  Greek  Composition  (4). 
Practicum — Drawing  (4),  Horticulture  (4). 

Winter  Session Algebra  (4),  Geometry  (2),  Rhetoric  (4),  Virgil  (3), 

Plato's  Apology  and  Greek  Composition  (3). 
Practicum — Drawing  (2),  Mechanic  Arts  (6). 
Spring  Session. — Trigonometry  (5),  Physiology  (4),  Sallust  (3),  Plato's 
Phffido  (3). 
Prrcticum — Drawing  (4),  Horticulture  (4). 

Sophomore  Class. 

Fall  Session. — Trigonometry  and  Surveying  (4),  Chemistry  (4),  Horace 
(3),  Herodotus  (4). 
Practicum — Surveying  (6),  Chemistry  (4). 
Winter  Session. — General  Geometry  (4),  Chemistry  (4),  Cicero  de  Officils 
(3),  Homer  (4). 
Practicum — Chemistry  (8),  Mechanic  Arts  (2). 


54  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Spring   Session. — Chemistry  (3),   Descriptive   Botany   (4),   Tacitus   (4), 
Euripides'  Alcestis  (4). 
Practicum — Chemistry  (6),  Botany  (4). 

Junior  Class. 

Fall  Session. — Rational  Mechanics  (4),  Logic  (3),  Thucydides  (4),  Botany 
(4),  or  Differential  Calculus  (3),  (elective). 
Practicum — Mechanics  (4),  Botany  (4),  Physiology  (4). 
Winter  Session. — Physics  (4),  Zoology  (4),  Natural  Theology  (3),  Greek 
History  and  Antiquities  (3),  Demosthenes  (3). 
Practicum — Physics  (3),  Zoology  (4). 
Spring  Session. — Mineralogy  (3),  Civil  Government  (3),  English  Litera- 
ture (5),  Roman  History  and  Antiquities  (3),  Sopho- 
cles (3). 
Practicum — Physics  (3). 

Senior  Glass. 

t^ALL  Session. — Geology  (3),  Mental  Philosophy  (3),  History  of  Ancient 
Philosophy  (3),  English  Literature  (3). 
Practicum^ — Geology  (3). 
Winter  Session. — Geology  (3),  Political  Economy  (3),  Astronomy  (4), 
History  of  Civilization  (4). 
Practicum — Geology  (5). 
Spring  Session. — Astronomy  (3),  Ethics  (3),  History  of  English  Litera- 
ture (3),  Evidences  of  Christianity  (3). 
Practicum — Geology  (5). 

College  Courses. —  Technical. 

The  technical  courses  now  offered  by  the  college  are  four  in  number: 
Agriculture,  Natural  History,  Chemistry  and  Physics,  and  Civil  Engineer- 
ing. For  admission  to  either  of  these  courses,  with  a  view  to  graduation, 
the  applicant  must  pass  an  examination  on  the  studies  of  the  Freshman 
and  Sophomore  classes  of  one  of  the  general  courses,  or  their  full  equiva- 
lent. 

Course  in  Agriculture. 

Agriculture  involves  the  application  of  the  sciences  to  a  greater  extent 
than  any  other  human  employment.  The  aim,  then,  of  a  college  course  of 
instruction  in  agriculture  is  to  teach  how  the  sciences  are  applied  to  the 
business  of  farming,  to  afford  a  thorough  and  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  its  principles  and  methods.  It  explains  the  nature  of  soils  and  of  ma- 
nures, the  reasons  for  and  the  best  methods  of  tillage,  the  constituents  and 
characteristics  of  plants  and  animals,  and  the  conditions  favorable  to  their 
development ;  and  it  combines  theory  and  practice  wherever  the  processes 
involve  skilled  labor,  but  it"  does  not  consume  the  student's  time  in  the 
mere  manual  labor  of  plowing,  planting  and  feeding.  For  instruction  in 
this  branch  there  are  the  college  farms  of  four  hundred  acres,  with  nearly 
twenty  acres  of  orchard,  vineyard  of  about  five  hundred  vines,  experi- 
mental grounds  of  more  than  thirty  acres,  barns,  implements,  etc.;  the  li- 
braries ;  the  laboratories  of  all  the  different  departments,  each  of  which  is 
in  certain  respects  subsidiary  to  agriculture ;  and  the  laboratory  for  agri- 
cultural work,  with  its  special  appliances  for  quantitative  analysis  of  grain, 
grasses,  fertilizers,  etc. 


Leg.  Doc]  '      Pennsylvania  State  College.  55 

In  addition  to  purely  technical  studies,  the  schedule  includes  a  few- 
others,  such  as  mental  philosophy,  political  economy,  ethics,  etc.,  which 
are  needful  to  fit  the  student  for  the  right  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a 
citizen. 

Schedule  of  Studies. 
Junior  Glass. 

Fall  Session. — Rational  Mechanics  (4),  Agricultural  Chemistry  (3),  Crypt- 
ogamic  Botany  (4),  Animal  Physiology  (4). 
Practicum — Physics  (4),  Chemistry  (6). 
Winter  Session. — Physics  (4),  Agricultural  Chemistry  (4),  Zoology  (4) 
Agricultural  Engineering  (3). 
Practicum — Zoology  or  Physics,  Chemistry. 
Spring  Session. — Mineralogy  (3),  Civil  Government  (3),  Entomology  (4), 
Fertilizers  (4),  Crops  (1). 
Practicum — Agriculture  Entomology. 

Senior  Class. 

Fall  Session. — Anatomy  and  Breeding  (4),  Geology  (3),  Mental  Philoso- 
phy (3),  Horticulture  (3),  Crops  (2). 
Practicum — Agriculture,  Dissection. 
Winter   Session. — Geology,  (3,)   Political   Economy,   (3,)  Feeding,   (4,) 
Yeterinary,  (4,)  Farm  Economy,  (1.) 
Practicum — Agriculture. 
Spring  Session. — Dairy,  (3,)  Sheep  Husbandry,  (1,)  Ethics,  (3,)  History 
of  English  Literature,  (3,)  History  of  Agriculture,  (1.) 
Practicum — Agriculture,  Geology,  Thesis. 

Course  in  Natural  History. 

The  design  of  this  course  is  to  give  a  practical  knowledge  of  geology, 
zoology,  botany,  etc.,  and  to  train  its  graduates  for  the  work  of  collecting 
and  classifying  objects  in  natural  history,  and  for  the  superintendence  of 
scientific  explorations  and  investigations. 

Instruction  is  derived  not  only  from  the  text-books  and  lectures  and  the 
work  in  the  laboratories,  but  from  the  study  of  the  various  collections  and 
from  excursions  in  the  vicinit}'  of  the  college,  the  surrounding  district  be- 
ing especiallj'  rich  in  material  illustrative  of  geology  and  botany. 

Schedule  op  Studies. 

Junior  Class. 

Fall  Session. — Rational  Mechanics,  (4,)  Cry ptogamic  Botany,  (4,)  Animal 
Physiology,  (4,)  Logic,  (3.) 
Practicum — Mechanics,  (4,)  Botany,  (4,)  Physiology,  (4.) 
Winter  Session. — Physics,   (4,)  Zoology,  (4,)  Phaenogamic  Botany,  (4,) 
Natural  Theology,  (3.) 
Practicum — Physics,  (3,)  Zoology,  (4.)  Botany,  (4.) 
Spring  Session. — Physics,  (4,)  Mineralogy,  (3,)  Civil   Government,  (3,) 
Entomology,  (4.) 
Practicum — Physics,  (3,)  Entomology,  (9.) 


56  Report  of  the  Committee.  '  [No.  18, 

Senior  Glass. 

Fall  Session. — Anatomy  and  Breeding,  (4,)  Geology,  (3,)  Mental  Philos- 
ophy, (3,)  Zoology,  (5.) 
Practicum — Geology,  (3,)  Zoology,  (8.) 
Winter  Session. — Geology,  (3,)  Political  Economy,  (3,)  Astronomj^,  (4,) 
Embryology,  (4.) 
Practicum — Geology,  (5,)  Embryology,  (6.) 
Spring  Session. — Geology,  (3,)  Astronomy,  (3,)  Ethics,  (3,)  History  of 
English  Literature,  (3.) 
Practicum — Geology^  (5,)  Thesis. 

Course  in   Chemistry  and  Physics.  , 

This  course  aims  to  prepare  the  student  for  work  as  a  physicist  or  a 
practical  chemist  or  pharmacist ;  it  also  seeks  to  fit  him  to  enter  the  ranks 
of  original  investigators  and  discoverers. 

The  extensive  and  well-equipped  laboratories  afford  opportunities  for 
qualitative  and  quantitative  work  in  both  chemistry  and  physics ;  they 
enable  the  physicist  to  verify  the  laws  of  physical  force,  the  assayist  to  de- 
termine the  value  of  ores,  and  the  agriculturist  to  ascertain  the  composi- 
tion of  his  organic  products. 

Schedule  op  Studies. 

Junior  Class. 

Fall  Session — Rational  Mechanics,  (4,)  Chemistry,  (3,)  Logic,  (3,)  Animal 
Physiology  (4)  or  Differential  Calculus,  (3,)  (elective.) 
Practicum — Mechanics,  (4,)  Chemistry,  (8.) 
Winter  Session. — Physics,  (4,)  Chemistry,  (4,)  Natural  Theology  (3)  or 
Integral  Calculus,  (2,)  (elective.) 
Practicum — Physics,  (3,)  Chemistry,  (19.) 
Spring  Session. — Physics,  (4,)  Chemistry,  (4,)  Mineralogy,  (3,)  Civil  Gov- 
ernment, (3.) 
Practicum — Physics,  (3,)  Chemistry,  (9.) 

Senior  Class. 

Fall  Session — Phvsics,  (3,)  Chemistry,  (1,)  Geology,  (3,)  Mental  Philos- 
ophy, (3.) 
Practicum — Physics,  (4,)  Chemistry,  (18.) 
Winter  Session — Physics,   (3,)  Chemistry,   (2,)    Geology,  (3.)    Political 
Economy,  (3.) 
Practicum — Physics,  (4,)  Chemistry,  (16.) 
Spring  Session — Physics,  (3,)  Chemistry,  (3,)  Ethics,  (History  of  English 
Literature,  (3.)  . 
Practicum — Physics,  (3,)  Chemistry,  (10,)  Thesis. 

Course  in  Civil  Engineering. 

As  this  course  was  established  at  the  opening  of  the  present  collegiate 
year,  no  detailed  statement  of  its  scope  can  be  made  at  this  time.  In 
general  terms,  its  object  is  to  combine  thorough  practical  instruction  and 
the  higher  mathematical  training  so  essential  to  the  success  of  the  profes- 
sional engineer. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  51 

Schedule  of  Studies. 

Junior  Glass. 

Fall  Session. — Rational  Mechanics,  Differential  Calculus,  Descriptive 
Geometry,  Shades,  Shadows  and  Perspective. 

Winter  Session. — Physics,  Integral  Calculus,  Descriptive  Geometry, 
Analytical  Mechanics. 

Spring  Session. — Physics,  Analytical  Mechanics,  Mineralogy,  Civil  Gov- 
ernment. 

Senior    Glass. 

Fall  Session. — Geology,  Resistance  of  Materials,  Principles  of  Mechanism, 

Railroad  Surveying. 
Winter  Session. — Geology,  Construction  of  Bridges,  Astronomy,  Political 

/  Economy. 

Spring  Session. — Geology,  Astronomy,  Hydraulics,  Ethics. 

Special   Course. 

Students  of  mature  years,  and  younger  students  whose  parents  or 
guardians  request  it,  are  permitted  to  choose  such  a  special  course  as  they 
may  need.  Of  every  such  student  it  is  required  that  he  be  prepared  to 
enter  upon  and  pursue  with  profit  the  studies  chosen,  that  he  have  an 
equal  number  of  hours  of  class- work  with  other  students, and  that  he  take 
part  in  the  practicum  to  which  he  may  be  assigned. 

Farmers'  Institute. 

In  order  to  meet  the  wants  of  farmers  who  desire  to  increase  their 
knowledge  of  the  theory  of  their  calling,  a  Farmers'  Institute  will  be  held 
at  the  college,  opening  Tuesday  morning,  January  17,  1882,  and  closing 
on  Friday  afternoon,  January  27.  This  two  weeks'  course  will  comprise 
about  thirty  lectures  by  the  college  professors,  or  by  others  whose  services 
will  be  secured  that  they  may  present  to  the  farmers  certain  important 
specialties. 

The  following  topics  will  be  included  in  the  course:  Agricultural 
Chemistr}^  Botany,  Dairying,  Entomology,  Farm  Accounts,  Feeding, 
Fertilizing,  Fruit  Growing,  Grain  and  Forage  Crops,  Mechanics,  Roads 
and  Bridges,  Stock  Breeding,  Vegetable  Gardening  and  Yeterinary. 

No  charge  will  be  made  for  instruction  or  for  the  use  of  the  public 
rooms  of  the  college. 

Those  who  are  interested  in  the  proposed  course  can  obtain  more  de- 
tailed information  by  applying  to  any  college  officer  after  November  1. 

Religious  Instruction. 

The  students  meet  in  the  chapel  daily,  just  before  recitations,  for  re- 
ligious services,  conducted  by  members  of  the  Faculty.  On  Sunday  they 
meet  in  the  morning  for  Bible  class  and  in  the  afternoon  for  sermon. 
There  is,  also,  an  evening  prayer-meeting. 

Free   Scholarships. 

There  have,  recently,  been  established  fifty  free  scholarships,  one  for 
each  Senatorial  district  in  the  State. 


68  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

The  scholar,  male  or  female,  is  to  be  appointed  by  the  Senator  of  the 
district  after  a  competitive  examination  in  the  studies  required  for  ad- 
mission to  the  Freshman  class,  and  must,  therefore,  fullfil  the  conditions 
requisite  for  admission  to  that  class,  as  given  on  page  2  of  this  circular. 

The  holder  of  the  scholarship  will  be  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the 
institution  free  of  the  ordinary  charges  for  incidentals,  room-rent,  fuel,  and 
furniture — this  immunity  to  continue  for  the  entire  college  course,  pro- 
vided that  both  conduct  and  class-standing  be  satisfactory  to  the  Faculty. 
Other  expenses,  such  as  boarding,  books  and  light,  must  be  borne  by  the 
student. 

A  vacancy  may  be  filled  after  the  opening  of  the  college  year,  if  the 
appointee's  attainments  are  sufficient  for  admission  to  the  class  at  that 
time. 

For  information  as  to  vacancies,  time  and  place  of  examination,  etc., 
candidates  for  a  scholarship  should  apply  to  their  Senator,  in  whose  care 
the  details  of  appointment  are  placed  by  the  college. 

Military  Instruction. 

In  addition  to  the  exercises  in  the  schedules  of  the  several  courses,  all 
students,  except  those  exempted  because  of  conscientious  scruples  or  on 
the  ground  of  physical  disability,  take  part  in  militarj'  drill.  The  exer- 
cises occur,  ordinarily,  three  times  per  week.  Seniors  and  Juniors  are  re- 
quired to  be  present  at  but  half  the  number  of  regular  exercises  assigned 
for  members  of  the  lower  classes. 

The  uniform  used  is  of  cadet  gray  cloth  and  of  a  standard  pattern. 
Measures  are  taken  at  the  college,  and  orders  are  filled  by  Wanamaker 
&  Brown,  Sixth  and  Market  streets,  Philadelphia,  for  $18,  viz:  Coat, 
$10  50;  pantaloons,  $6 ;  cap,  $1  50. 

Laboratory  Expenses. — Students  in  the  laboratories  pay  a  small  charge 
for  their  outfit ;  also,  for  apparatus  destroyed  and  material  consumed  by 
them. 

Boarding. — The  college  does  not  maintain  a  boarding-hall,  and  most 
students  depend  upon  the  boarding-houses  in  the  vicinity,  the  regular 
charge  being  $3  per  week.  The  college  offers  special  facilities  to  those 
who  board  themselves  singly,  and  also  to  the  College  Boarding  Club,  which 
supplies  its  members,  now  numbering  about  twenty,  with  good  boarding 
at  about  two  dollars  per  week. 

Furniture. — The  furniture  provided  for  students  who  room  in  the  build- 
ing consists  of  a  bedstead,  mattress,  table,  washstand,  chair.  The  student 
provides  all  other  articles,  including  bedding,  wash-bowl  and  pitcher, 
mirror,  lamp,  etc. 

Means  of  Access. — The  turnpike  from  the  college  furnishes  daily  com- 
munication by  stage  with  Bellefonte,  which  is  connected  by  two  trains 
daily  with  Tyrone,  on  the  Pennsylvania  railroad,  and  with  Lock  Haven,  on 
the  Philadelphia  and  Erie  railroad. 

Owing  to  the  better  accommodation  and  greater  regularity  of  communi- 
cation, the  route  by  Bellefonte  is  now  preferable  for  all  those  coming  by 
railroad.  The  Lewisburg  and  Tyrone  railroad  is  running  construction 
trains  within  six  miles  of  the  college,  and  will,  doubtless,  furnish  regular 
passenger  trains  from  Tyrone  before  1882. 

Expenses. 

Fall  Session. — Incidentals, $6 

Room  rent,  fuel,  and  furniture, 9 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  59 

Winter  Session. — Incidentals $4 

Room  rent,  fuel,  and  furniture, 11 

Spring  Session. — Incidentals, 4 

Room  rent,  fuel,  and  furniture, 6 

There  is  no  charge  for  tuition  in  any  course. 

The  charge  for  incidentals  is  intended  to  cover  the  expenses  of  heating, 
lighting,  and  caring  for  the  corridors  and  the  recitation  and  other  public 
rooms.  This  is  the  only  charge  made  to  pupils  who  do  not  room  in  the 
college. 

The  above  charge  for  room  rent,  fuel,  and  furniture,  is  made  to  those 
who  room  in  the  building,  and  is  on  the  basis  of  two  persons  to  each  room. 
In  cases  where  a  student  rooms  alone,  he  will  be  charged  $4  additional  per 
session. 

Students  must  settle  their  college  bills  in  advance,  unless  excused  by 
the  executive  committee  of  the  board.  Remittances  ma3^  be  made  by 
draft  or  by  money  order,  drawn  on  the  State  College  post-oflfice. 

Attendance. — The  students  whose  names  appear  in  the  last  year's  cat- 
alogue number  one  hundred  and  sixty-four. 

Calendar  for  1881-82. 

Fall  session,  sixteen  weeks,  opened,  Friday,  August  26, 1881 . 

Fall  session  closes, Friday,  December  16, 1881. 


Friday,  January  5,  1882. 
Friday,  March  31,  1882. 
Fridav,  April  7,  1882. 
Thursday  June  29,  1882. 


Winter  session,  twelve  weelcs,  opens, 

Winter  session  closes, 

Spring  session,  twelve  weeks,  opens, 

Commencement, 

For  further  particulars  address  the  President,  State  College,  Centre 
county.  Pa. 

IX. — Graduates   and  Discipline. 

35.  Fill  the  following  schedule  with  the  number  of  persons  graduating 
from  your  institution  since  Jul^^,  1862. 

Totals,  since  1862,  ninety-nine  students  in  all  courses — sixteen  in  arts, 
thirty-four  in  agriculture,  forty-nine  in  science. 

36.  State  for  each  collegiate  year  since  Jul}-,  1862,  the  number  of  stu- 
dents suspended  or  expelled,  and  the  number  who  have  failed  to  pass  their 
examination  on  the  studies  of  the  year. 

It  is  not  practicable  to  answer  the  above  with  the  time  now  at  command. 
If  the  answer  be  considered  of  great  importance  in  this  investigation,  it 
will  be  furnished  hereafter. 

37.  If  your  institution  has  any  post-graduate  course  of  instruction,  please 
give  particulars  respecting  it,  and  the  number  of  persons  who  have  pur- 
sued it. 

Persons  who  have  graduated  in  one  of  the  college  courses,  here  or  else- 
where, are  permitted  to  enter  the  college  for  instruction  in  an  advanced 
course,  consisting  of  such  studies  as  may,  in  view  of  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  be  approved  by  the  faculty.  There  are  no  records  which  give  the 
number  of  persons  accurately.  The  number  in  1881  was  five,  but  this  was 
much  above  the  average. 

/  X. —  Conditions  of  Admission. 

38.  State  the  requirements  as  to  age,  sex,  and  other  qualfications  for  ad- 
mission into  your  institution. 


60  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Admission. 

The  college  admits  both  sexes,  on  the  following  conditions  : 
First.  Candidates  for  the  preparatory  department  must  be  at  least  four- 
teeij  j-ears  of  age,  and  have  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  common 
school  branches. 

Second.  For  admission  to  the  freshman  class,  general  science  course,  the 
candidate  must  be  at  least  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  pass  a  further  examin- 
ation in  United  States  history,  Olney's  higher  algebra,  (to  quadratics,) 
Olney's  geometry,  (to  section  seven,)  Steele's  Fourteen  Weeks  in  Physics, 
and  Houston's  physical  geography,  or  their  equivalents.  For  the  classical 
course,  the  applicant  will  be  examined  in  Csesar,  Cicero's  orations,  and 
Xenophen's  anabasis,  instead  of  physics  and  physical  geography.  Candi- 
dates for  either  course  should  have  some  practical  knowledge  of  drawing 
and  book-keeping.  Students  whose  advanced  knowledge  of  some  subjects 
will  enable  them  to  make  up  their  deficiencies  in  others,  may  be  admitted 
conditionally. 

39.  Is  the  race  of  applicants  considered  in  their  admission  ? 
No. 

40.  Are  persons  of  color  admitted  ?     If  not,  state  the  reasons. 

Thev  are.  There  were  two  (2)  in  the  institution  during  the  years  18*79 
and  1880. 

41.  Grive  for  each  year  since  1862  the  number  of  applicants  for  admission, 
the  number  admitted  with  and  without  conditions,  and  the  number  rejected, 
with  the  reasons. 

We  have  no  record  of  the  number  of  applicants  for  admission.  The 
catalogues  show  the  number  admitted.  No  permanent  record  is  made  con- 
cerning admissions,  "  with  the  conditions,"  students  so  admitted  either 
catching  up  with  their  classes  or  falling  back  in  the  classes  below.  No 
record  is  kept  of  rejections,  but  these  are  all  for  want  of  preparation  for 
the  classes  for  which  they  apply. 

XL—  The  Law  of  July,  1862. 

42.  Has  your  institution  in  good  faith  performed  all  the  conditions  and 
requirements  of  the  statute  of  July,  1862,  and  the  acts  supplementary 
thereto  ?  If  not,  state  for  what  cause  and  in  what  particulars  you  have 
failed.  Has  the  gift  of  the  United  States  been  preserved  unimpaired  and 
devoted  to  the  purposes  of  j^our  institution  ?  If  not,  to  what  extent  has 
it  been  impaired  or  diverted,  and  under  what  circumstances  ? 

The  Pennsylvania  State  College  has  in  good  faith  complied  with  the  re- 
quirements of  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  2,  1862. 

The  State  of  Pennsylvania  has  not  impaired  the  gift,  nor  diverted  any 
part  from  the  purposes  of  this  college. 

XIL — Documents. 

43.  Please  to  supply  this  committee  with  a  copy  of  the  State  law  under 
which  the  United  States  land  grant  was  accepted  and  your  institution  en- 
dowed, and  also  with  a  set  of  your  catalogues  and  reports. 

A  bound  copy  of  the  catalogues  and  reports  of  the  college  is  presented 
with  this  report. 

Q.  In  giving  the  value  of  the  real  estate,  have  you  included  the  buildings 
on  the  Eastern  and  Western  experimental  farms  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 


Leo.  Doc.  ]        Pennsylvania  State  College.  61 

By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  You  confine  yourself  to  the  property  at  the  college  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  the  value  of  the  real  estate  ? 

A.  Four  hundred  and  fifty-nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  dollars. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Does  that  $459,873  include  all  three  experimental  farms,  and  also  the 
value  of  the  improvements  on  them,  or  is  that  a  higher  price  ? 

A.  The  actual  cost  price. 

Q.  Cost  of  actual  real  estate  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Then,  so  far  as  your  answer  to  interrogatories  T>[os.  16  and  14,  you 
do  not  give  the  value  of  the  buildings  or  improvements  on  anything  but 
the  Centi'al  farm  ?  As  given  in  answer  to  a  former  question.  No.  9,  then, 
what  you  gave  was  the  value,  not  only  of  the  land,  but  of  the  improvements 
on  the  land  in  Chester  and  Indiana  counties  ? 

Witness  states,  in  answer  to  question  No.  9,  the  value  given  to  the  Ches- 
ter county  and  Indiana  county  farms  also  includes  the  buildings  and  im- 
provements thereon,  with  the  exception  of  the  additional  expenditure  of 
the  appropriation  of  $5,000. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 


Met  at  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 

Professor  John  Hamilton's  examination  continued  : 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Witness.  The  report  that  I  read  this  morning  was  in  answer  to  the  first 
question  by  this  sub-committee,  and  the  one  I  have  now  is  in  answer  to 
the  second  point.  Paper  No.  2,  "A  statement  of  the  cost  of  the  experi- 
mental farms  connected  with  the  college,  with  a  detailed  statement  for  each 
year,  to  the  close  of  1881,  of  the  income  and  receipts  of  said  farms,  as 
follows : 

Cost  of  the  Farms. 

Chester  County  Farm. — Bought  of  Thomas  Harvey,  Februar}^  12, 1868, 
containing  100  acres  33  perches,  for  $17,750.  Recorded  in  the  recorder's 
office  of  Chester  county,  in  deed-book,  F  7,  volume  162,  page  370,  Decem- 
ber 10,  1868. 

Central  Experimental  Farm.. — Bought  of  "  The  Agricultural  College 
of  Pennsylvania,"  May  25, 1868,  containing  100  acres,  for  $8,000.  Deeded 
to  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  in  trust.  Recorded  in  the 
^office  for  recording  of  deeds  in  and  for  Centre  county,  January  6, 1869,  book 
D  2,  page  422,  &c. 

Western  Experimental  Farm. — Bought  of  J.  P.  Carter,  September  1, 
1869,  containing    .    .    .    acres,  for  $18,136  50. 

Making  a  total  of  $43,886  50  as  the  cost  of  the  farms. 


62                                   Report  of  the  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

Statement  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  the  Eastern  Experimental 
Farm^  from  1868  to  1881^  both  inclusive  : 

Receipts.  Expenditures. 

1868,  College  paid, $l,000  00 

The  report  of  this  year  cannot  be  found, 
but   the  expenditures,  it  is  assumed, 

will  equal  the  receipts, $1,000  00 

1869, 3,626  29  3,541  U 

1870, 4,097  35  4,397  61 

1871, 4,648  05  5,024  86 

1872, 3,814  38  4,019  44 

1873, 4,244  72  3,989  31 

1874, 3,698  12  3,436  92 

1875, 4,268  80  3,799  81 

1876, 3,962  49  3,598  90 

1877, 2,641  60  2,985  70 

1878, 2,932  17  3,648  92 

1879, 3,122  19  4,603  00 

1880, 3,691  38  3,841   17 

1881, 3,011  73  2,122  72 

Received  from  the  State  by  a  special  appropri- 
ation,   .    .    .    A 5,000  00  5,000  00 


$53,758  77         $55,010  10 


In  the  receipts  are  included  payments  by  the  college  to  the  amount  of 
$18,800.  Also  donations  by  the  State  of  $5,000.  Donations  from  private 
individuals  not  included,  about  $5,000. 

Statement  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  the  Central  Experimental 
Farm,  from  1869  to  1881,  both  inclusive. 

Receipts.  Expenditures. 

1869, $2,278  40  $1,620  51 

1870, 3,131  00  3,497  73 

1871, 2,861  21  1,992  72 

1872, 2,953  58  2,912  69 

1873, 2,998  74  2,019  44 

1874, 1,458  98  1,975  18 

1875, 1,292  64  1,719  32 

1876, 1,234  08  2,030  51 

1877, 1,520  43  1,423  67 

1878, 1,542  92  1,266  93 

1879, 1,611  17  1,465  62 

1880, 1,747  38  1,296  31 

1881, 2,128  70  1,884  00 


$26,759  23         $25,104  63 


In  the  receipts  are  included  payments  by  the  college  to  the  amount  of 
$14,250. 
Donations  from  private  individuals,  not  included,  about  $2,000. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  €3 

Statement  of  the  accounts  of  the  Western  Experimental  Farm,  from  1869 

to  1881^  both  inclusive. 

It  has  been  found  impossible  to  make  out  a  statement,  such  as  the  com- 
mittee desire,  without  going  over  the  items  and  rewriting  the  books.  This 
difficulty  is  occasioned  by  the  frequent  changes  in  the  superintendents  of 
the  Western  farm,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  accounts  were  kept  partly  by 
the  superintendent  and  partly  by  the  local  trustees. 

In  settlements  with  them,  the  accounts  of  each  were'examined,  and  their 
credits  compared  with  the  vouchers  in  their  hands,  and  the  balances  brought 
down.     The  settlement  papers  give  a  statement  of  their  accounts. 

This  farm  is  now  out  of  debt,  and  has  $1,000  to  its  credit  on  the  books. 
It  has  received  from  the  college,  since  its  organization,  to  December  31, 
1881,  $16,050.  It  has  expended  this  amount,  and  also  the  entire  income 
from  produce,  excepting  $1,000  still  in  its  possession. 

Summary  of  the  amounts  received  by  the  three  Experimental  Farms  from 
the  College,  from  1868  to  1881,  both  inclusive. 

Eastern  Experimental  farm, $18,800  00 

Central  "  "       14,250  00 

Western  "  "       16,050  00 

Total, $49,100  00 


Q.  Have  you  the  deeds  for  that  property  with  you  ? 

A.  I  have. 

Q.  Will  you  get  them  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.     (Witness  produces  the  deeds.) 

Witness  reads  paper  So.  3.  A  statement  showing  the  receipts  and  ex- 
penditures from  the  different  funds  donated  to  the  college  since  its  organ- 
ization to  December  31,  1881,  and  showing  the  principal  of  said  funds  on 
hand  December  31, 1881. 

State  of  Pennsylvania,  to  erect  building, $99,900  00 

Elliott  Cresson,  legacy,    ...                        5,000  00 

General  James  Irvin,  two  hundred  acres  of  land, 12,000  00 

Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural  Society,         11,865  00 

Citizens  of  Centre  county,  to  secure  location,         .        ...  10,000  00 

Citizens  of  State, 25,000  00 

State  geological  collection, 500  00 

Citizens,  to  stock  experimental  farms,      7,000  00 

State  of  Pennsylvania,  by  act  of  April  3,  18T2,  increasing 

endowment  $104,699  70. 

From  State,  to  experimental  farm,         5,000  00 

From  State,  to  pay  off  mortgage,      .    .        .  80,000  00 

From  Kelly,  to  construct  water  works,     ...                ...  1,500  00 

From  McA.  &  Beaver,  to  construct  water  works, 1,420  00 

From  U.  S.  Government,  1-10  land  scrip, 43,886  50 


Total,         A $303,071  50 


Witness  reads  paper  No.  4,  a  statement  showing  the  amount  of  the  cost 
of  buildings  as  erected  to  close  of  1881.     Cost  of  buildings  estimated. 


64  Report  op  the  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

College  buildings,  about $200,000  00 

President's  house, 8,000  00 

Vice-president's  house, 1,500  00 

Barn,            ...                ...        7,800  00 

Farm-house,                    1,000  00 

Gate-house,  east  entrance, 600  00 

Gate-house,  west  entrance, 1,100  00 

Engine-house, 1,500  00 

House  at  the  barn,             TOO  00 

Central  Experimental  farm  buildings,  ....  1,500  00 

New  stone  house, 1,000  00 

Hog-pen, 1,000  00 

Total  estimated  cost, $231,100  00 

Water-works,  (about,) ....         12,000  00 

Steam-heating,  (about,) 10,00000 


$259,100  00 


Witness  reads  paper  No.  5,  a  statement  showing  the  amount  expended 
for  repairs  annually,  as  follows  : 

1866, $662  43 

1861, 241   11 

1868, 462  30 

1869, 000  00 

1810 511  34 

1811, 509  11 

1812, 1,196  34 

1813, 2,641  04 

1814, 124  59 

1815, 2,290  81 

1816,        513  12 

1811, 1,610  19 

1818, 161  91 

1819, 1,965  35 

1880, 1,148  02 

1881, 1,128  93 


$11,893  11 


Witness  reads  paper  No.  6,  the  condition  of  each  and  all  such  buildings 
at  the  close  of  1881,  as  follows: 

The  college  building  needs  to  be  painted  throughout,  and  to  have  its 
halls  better  lighted  by  opening  transoms  above  the  doors.  Its  chapel 
should  be  enlarged  by  removing  the  ceiling  and  side-rooms,  and  the  throw- 
ing of  the  second  and  third  stories  together. 

The  building  should  be  lighted  with  gas.  The  attic  should  be  finished 
into  laboratory  rooms,  and  the  present  rooms  removed  from  the  basement. 

The  president's  house  should  be  repainted  and  papered.  The  barn  should 
have  sheds  attached  to  store  grain,  and  to  be  used  also  for  feeding  cattle. 

Tool-houses  for  implements  are  very  much  needed,  and  also  work-shops 
for  the  mechanical  practicums.     New  and  cheap  houses,  costing  from  $600 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  65 

to  $1 ,000,  needed  for  employes.     A  new  house,  at  the  east  entrance  to  the 
college  grounds,  is  very  much  needed. 

Witness  reads  paper  No.  7,  as  follows:  In  addition  to  the  foregoing  I 
beg  leave  to  submit  the  annual  report  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College, 
made  to  the  trustees,  for  the  year  1881,  showing  the  method  of  keeping  the 
accounts  of  the  college,  and  giving  a  detailed  statement  of  the  indebtedness 
of  the  college,  together  with  a  balance  sheet  made  out  December  31,  1881. 

Financial  Report  op  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  for  the  Year 

1881. 

To  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  Utate  College : 

Gentlemen  :  The  following  report,  showing  the  financial  condition  of  the 
college,  December  31,  1881,  is  respectfully  submitted  : 

The  appropriation  schedule,  made  by  the  board,  for  1881,  is  as  follows : 

To  the  department  of  instruction, $16,500  00 

To  interest, ' 2,500  00 

To  insurance, • 200  00 

To  experimental  farm,                   2,000  00 

To  advertising  and  printing, 1,000  00 

To  vineyard,           25  00 

To  campus,      ....            . 40J  00 

To  flower  garden, 40  CO 

To  library,                       200  00 

To  chemical  department,      200  00 

To  physical  department, 300  t  0 

To  mechanical  practicum, 400  00 

To  agricultural  chemistry,        400  00 

To  mathematical  department,      150  00 

To  natural  science,                 10')  00 

To  traveling  and  general  expenses,     .    .                 1 ,000  ('0 

To  military  department,                10  00 

To  repairs  and  improvements, 2,000  00 

To  sinking  fund,         2,575  00 

Total,        $8", OOP  '0 

The  department  of  instruction  saved  out  of  its  appropriation  $894  31. 
This  does  not  take  into  account  the  rentals  for  houses  occupied  hy  profes- 
sors, which,  this  year,  amounts  to  $1,74^,  which  is  charged  to  the  instruc- 
tion account,  in  order  to  show  the  total  cost  of  the  department. 

The  interest  account  overdrew  its  appropriation  $779  96.  The  appro- 
priation was  $2,500,  of  which  it  took  $I,<i50  01  to  pay  interest  on  the  war- 
rants held  by  J.  Uhler,  cashier.  The  balance  was  interest  paid  upon  the 
current  indebtedness,  $2,229  95.  During  the  year  the  State  Treasurer 
lifted  the  last  of  the  warrants  issued  for  the  payments  of  the  bonded  in- 
debtedness of  the  college. 

The  appropriation  to  the  experimental  farms  was  $2,000,  and  was  dis- 
tributed by  the  executive  committee,  as  follows  : 

To  the  Eastern  farm, $800  00 

To  the  Central  farm, 600  00 

To  the  Western  farm, _. 600  00 

Total, $2,000  00 

5— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18.  " 


66 


Report  of  the  Committee. 


[No.  18, 


The  appropriation  to  advertising  and  printing  was  $1,000;  of  tliis 
amount  there  remains  an  unexpended  balance  of  $635   15. 

The  appropriation  to  insurance  account  was  $200,  none  of  which  was 
expended. 

ihe  property  of  the  college  in  Centre  county  is  insured  to  the  amount 
of  $68,66Y,  $40,000  of  which  is  in  perpetual  insurance,  and  $7,500  is  in 
paid-up  insurance  for  four  and  live  years.  The  balance,  $21,167,  is  in  the 
Lycoming  Mutual  Company,  and  is  distributed  as  follows: 


College  building. 
Frame  dwelling  at  barn,  .  . 
Gate  house  at  west  entrance. 
House    lately    occupied    by 

Caicipbell,  .    . 

Gate  house  at  e?.st  entrance. 
Slaughter  house  and  pig  pen. 
President's  house,  .  ... 
President's  stable,  ..... 
Prof.  McKee's  house,  .  .  . 
College  bam  and  sheds, .  .  . 
Grain,  hay,  horses,  cattle,  &c. 


Prof. 


;io,oou 

250 
300 

500 

250 

300 

3,333 

667 

1,500 

2,667 

1,400 


Expires  July  23,1884. 


December  1,  1884. 


September  7,  1882. 


Total, $21,167 

This  company  has  been  declared  insolvent  and  its  affairs  have  gone  into 
the  hands  of  a  receiver  for  the  purpose  of  closing  up  their  accounts. 

There  will  be  at  least  one  assessment  ordered,  and  perhaps  more,  which  will 
have  to  be  paid.  In  the  meantime  the  college  property  that  was  insured  as 
above,  to  the  extent  of  $2i,l67,  is  not  protected,  and  should  be  re-insured 
in  some  other  companies. 

The  business  manager  recommends  that,  in  re-insuring  this  propert}', 
the  college  do  not  insure  in  any  mutual  company,  but  pay  up  its  premiums 
in  cash  for  at  least  live  years.  If  this  suggestion  meets  your  approval,  a 
larger  appropriation  than  usual  will  be  necessary  to  renew  the  old  insur- 
ance, and  an  additional  amount  to  meet  the  assessments  of  the  old.  The 
whole  expense  in  this  direction  will  be  about  $550  or  $601'. 

The  vineyard  account  shows  a  net  gain  of  $32  64.  The  appropriation 
to  the  campus  was  $400.  The  total  expense  for  the  year  in  this  account 
was  $743  47  ;  $189  50  of  this  was  for  a  mule  and  labor  furnished  by  the 
farm,  leaving  a  balance  of  $553  i)7  as  amount  expended  outside  of  the 
farm  labor.  The  account,  after  deducting  inventories,  credits  and  appro- 
priations, shows  a  loss  to  be  charged  to  the  college  farm  of  $318  62. 

The  appropriation  to  the  flower  garden  was  $4u,  and  shows  a  loss  of 
$2   09. 

The  appropriation  to  the  natural  science  department  v,'as  $100.  This 
account  shows  a  balance  in  its  favor  of  $94  90.  The  professor  in  charge 
of  this  department  had  also  charge  of  the  department  of  horticulture 
and  gardening.  The  cost  of  and  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  fruit  from"  the 
college  orchards  were  entered  into  this  account,  and  by  an  arrangement 
between  the  professor  in  charge  of  this  department  and  the  professor  in 
charge  of  the  campus,  the  accounts  in  all  of  these  departments,  garden- 
ng,  vineyard,  orchard,  campus,  and  of  natural  science,  were  consoli- 
dated, so  that  the  balance  in  favor  of  one  account  would  meet  the 
deflciencies  in  the  others.  There  is,  consequently,  as  a  result  of  a  consoli- 
dation of  all  these  accounts,  an  over-draft  or  loss  of  $24  52. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  67 

It  is,  I  believe,  proposed  to  place,  for  the  ensuing  year,  these  departments 
under  the  control  and  supervision  of  one  professor. 

In  view  of  this,  I  would  suggest  that  the  appro;: riations  made  to  these 
departments  be  consolidated  under  one  head,  called  horticultural  depart- 
ment. Formerly,  the}^  were  under  separate  superintendents,  and  there  was 
necessity  for  separate  appropriations  to  each,  and  for  the  keeping  of  sepa- 
rate accounts  with  each ;  but  since  this  superintendence  is  to  be  changed, 
it  would  simplify  his  work  as  well  as  the  keeping  of  his  account  to  classify 
them  all  under  one  head  in  the  appropriation  schedule,  and  enable  him  to 
use  the  funds  appropriated  where  it  seemed  most  necessary. 

The  appropriation  to  the  college  library'  was  $2UU,  all  of  which  was  ex- 
pended. 

The  appropriation  to  the  chemical  department  was  $200.  The  depart- 
ment shows  a  balance  of  $198  36  gain. 

The  physics  department  shows  a  loss  of  $99.  The  appropriation  to  it 
was  ISuO.*^ 

l^e  mechanical  department  expended  $317  65  out  of  its  appropriation 
of  $40u,  leaving  a  balance  of  the  appropriation  unexpended  of  $82  35. 

The  appropriation  to  the  department  of  agricultural  chemistry  was  $400. 
It  overdrew  its  account  $28  66. 

The  mathematical  department  shows  a  balance  to  its  credit  of  $95  85. 

The  appropriation  to  traveling  and  general  expenses  was  $1,000. 
Travel.ng  expenses  were,      .    .        .    .  ....  $396  11 

Postage,  .  328  47 

General  expenses, 510  81 

Total, $1,234  89 


Making  an  overdraft  of  $234  89.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  postage  ac- 
count has  reached  the  sum  of  $328  47.  It  is  suggested  that  either  a  separate 
appropriation  be  made  for  this  purpose,  or  that  it  be  hereafter  considered 
a  part  of  the  advertising,  and  be  posted  to  advertising  and  printing  ac- 
count. 

The  militar3'  dtpartment  shows  a  loss  of  $2  05. 

The  appropriation  to  repairs  and  improvements  was  $2,000.  There  is  a 
balance  of  $21  u7  unexpended.  The  principle  items  of  this  account  are 
as  follows : 

Fire  brick, , $124  00 

Smith  house  settlement, 750  00 

Pig-pen  repairs,  71  27 

Painting  cupola,  porches,  pig-pen,  &c., *  .    .  89  55 

Hardware,  nails,  locks,  hinges,  glass,  cement,  &c.,      .    .        .    .  367   14 

Lumber,  128  64 

Water  improvements,  tin  soldering,  &c., 50  00 

Hauling, 92  75 

Carpenters' wages, 121  23 

Total, $1,794  58 


The  balance  of  $202  59  is  for  mason  work  and  various  small  items  of 
tinning,  &c.  The  pointing  on  portions  of  the  college  building  was  out,  and 
the  stone  work  exposed  to  the  weather,  besides  letting  in  a  great  deal  of 
cold.  A  good  deal  was  done  in  the  way  of  repointing  the  worst  places, 
and  in  filling  in  around  windows  where  the  casings  had  shrunk  away  from 


68  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

the  walls  ;  as  a  consequence,  the  rooms  are  much  warmer  and  the  building 
in  better  condition. 

The  college  building  shows  a  loss  of  $1,485  21.  This  account  is  made 
up  of  the  following  accounts:  Oil  and  light,  water  supply,  janitor,  inci- 
dentals, coal,  furniture,  room  rent,  and  general  damages. 

The  receipts  of  the  students  do  not  pay  the  expenses  of  their  different 
departments  of  the  college  building,  and  some  provision  should  be  made 
for  supplying  the  deficiency. 

The  past  year  was  somewhat  exceptional,  in  that  the  winter  was  un- 
usually severe,  and  the  drouth  of  the  summer  caused  a  greater  drain  on 
our  water  supply  on  the  part  of  our  neighbors  than  is  usual.  The  furni- 
ture of  the  college,  which  was  very  much  broken,  was  repaired,  and  the 
free  scholarship  established  recently,  together  with  the  reduced  rates  for 
admission  of  students,  helped  to  bring  about  the  result. 

The  music  account  shows  a  gain  of  $16  75. 

The  house  rent  account  has  contributed  to  the  income  of  the  college,  in 
addition  to  the  amount  charged  to  the  department  of  instruction,  $34*50. 

The  college  farm  shows  a  net  gain,  after  paying  $318  62  for  the  campus, 
of  $464  11. 

The  ice-house  shows  a  loss  of  $37  43.  The  ice  was  sold  at  one  half  cent 
per  pound,  and  it  should  have  been  sold  at  a  cent.  It  was  believed  that 
the  cheaper  rate  would  have  paid  the  expenses,  but  the  waste  was  greater 
than  was  anticipated.  The  college  last  year  endeavored  to  make  use  of  an 
excavation  near  the  reservoir  for  the  purpose  of  an  ice  pond,  and,  by  lay- 
ing a  pipe  to  it  from  the  reservoir,  fill  it  with  water.  The  attempt  was 
made,  but  when  the  pond  was  about  half  full  a  large  portion  of  the  bottom 
fell  out,  and  the  experiment  was  a  failure.  The  ice,  therefore,  had  to  be 
hauled  about  four  miles,  which  made  it  expensive. 

For  the  year  1882  it  is  proposed^to  run  water  into  the  old  quarry  near 
the  east  entrance  to  the  college  grounds,  and  fill  the  ice-house  from  that. 
If  this  pond  were  enlarged  a  little  the  college  could  use  it  for  this  purpose 
very  satisfactorily,  and  I  recommend  that  during  the  coming  year  this 
quarry  be  so  enlarged  as  to  make  it  suitable  for  this  use. 

The  uniform  account  shows  a  gain  of  $24   15. 

Loss  and  gain  account  shows  a  net  gain  in  the  past  year  in  all  the  de- 
partments of  the  college  of  $2,837  i*9,  being  $262  99  more  than  the  sink- 
ing fund  appropriation,  which  was  $2,575. 

The  treasury  account  shows  a  balance  on  hand  of  $2,676  26. 

The  bills  paj'able  account  shows  notes  outstanding  December  31,  1881, 
amounting  to  $46,324  73.     A  complete  list  is  hereto  appended  : 

Statement  of  Notes  outstanding  December  31,  1881. 

By  whom  issued.  Amount.                    To  whom  given. 

John  Hamilton,  B.  M., $1,262  34  Prof.  C.  Alf.  Smith. 

"             "             "  70  Ou  Prof.  John  Hamilton. 

James  A.  Beaver,  president  board,  15,000  00  Prof.  John  Hamilton. 

"             "                 "             "  10,000  00  Prof.  John  Hamilton. 

John  Hamilton,  B.  M., 1,000  00  W.C.Patterson. 

James  A.  Beaver,  president  board,  6,500  00  Rev.  Robert  Hamill. 

"             ''                 "             "  4,000  00  Allison  &  Beaver. 

John  Hamilton,  B.  M., 85  00  Prof.  C.  Alf.  Smith. 

"             "             ''....  50  00  Prof.  J.  W.  Heston. 

"             "             "        60  00  Prof.  E.  H.  Christie. 

"            "             "        65  26  Prof.  W.  W.  Campbell. 


Leg.  Doc] 


Pennsylvania  State  College. 


69 


To  whom  given. 
Prof.  W.  H.  Jordan. 
Prof.  J.  W.  Heston. 
Prof  L.  E.  Reber. 
Prof.  C.  A.  Smith. 
Alexander  &  Co. 
Prof.  W.  G.  Buckhout. 
Prof.  C.  Alf.  Smith. 
Prof.  John  W.  Heston. 
Prof  John  W.  Heston. 
Prof.  E.  H.  Christie. 
Prof  L.  E.  Reber. 
Prof  W.  W.  Campbell. 
J.  A.  B.,  for  J.  P.  Coburn. 
Prof  W.  H.  Jordan. 
Prof.  E.  H.  Christie. 
Prof.  J.  H.  Heston. 
Prof.  L.  H.  Barnard. 
Prof.  C.  F.  Reeves. 
Prof.  C.  A.  Smith. 
Prof  John  Hamilton. 
Prof.  L.  E.  Reber. 
Prof.  J.  W.  Heston. 
Prof  E.  H.  Christie. 
Prof  W.  W.  Campbell. 
Prof.  W.  C.  Patterson. 
Prof.  J.  W.  Heston. 
Prof.  C.  H.  Reeves. 
Prof  J.  Jackson. 
Prof.  C.  A.  Smith. 
Prof.  E.  H.  Christie. 
Prof.  J.  T.  Osmand. 
Prof.  L.  H.  Barnard. 
Prof  W.  H.  Jordan.    . 
Prof.  C.  F.  Reeves. 
Prof.  L.  E.  Reber. 
Prof  J.  W.  Heston. 
Prof.  L.  E.  Reber. 
Prof  W.  A.  Buckhout. 
Prof.  C.  F.  Reeves. 
Prof.  W.  W.  Campbell. 
Prof.  E.  H.  Christie. 
Prof  J.  W.  Heston. 


Total, $46,324  73 

The  total  indebtedness  of  the  college,  December  31,  1881,  is  as  follows  : 

Bills  payable, $46,324  Y3 

Other  indebtedness, 4,115  62 

$50,440  35 

By  reducing  the  February  interest, $15,000  00 

Smith  note,  not  due  until  1886,  .  .  1,262  34 

Amount  due  Western    Experimental   farm,   not 

needed  now, 1,0U0  GO 


By  whom  issued. 
John  Hamilton,  B.  M.,          .    .    . 

Amount. 

$100  00 

30  00 

u 

52  00 

u 

100  00 

(( 

190  00 

u 

70  00 

u 

60  00 

it, 

30  00 

u 

50  00 

u 

60  00 

n 

26  00 

11 

104  38 

James  A  Beaver,  president  board 
John  Hamilton,  B.  M.,  .... 

,     5,000  00 
100  00 

(( 

u 

11 

30  00 

u 

^l 

U 

25  00 

u 

li 

U 

80  00 

u 

ii 

a 

22  00 

u 

li 

a 

70  00 

i( 

.( 

ii 

285  00 

u 

u 

u 

26  00 

u 

a 

u 

50  00 

.i 

u 

... 

35  00 

u 

a 

u 

90  00 

(I 

li 

a 

50  00 

(( 

it 

"  '  .     .  ! 

25  00 

ii 

u 

i( 

50  00 

u 

i( 

(I  • 

300  00 

t( 

a 

(1 

60  00 

u 

a 

(; 

40  00 

(( 

a 

(( 

150  00 

(( 

u 

u 

290  00 

(( 

tc 

u 

150  00 

n 

a 

a 

100  00 

u 

ii 

a 

20  00 

u 

a 

u 

30  00 

u 

a 

I. 

22  00 

u 

li 

(( 

140  00 

u 

li 

(. 

30  00 

u 

li 

li 

62  74 

u 

a 

a 

11  00 

u 

(( 

a 

16  01 

70  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Cash  on  hand  December  31,  1881,      .    .  $2,61626 

Cash  likely  to  be  received  from  students  during 

January,  1882,        500  00 

$20,438  60 

$30,001   75 
Add  February  discount, 870  00 


Amount  of  indebtedness  to  be  paid  for  by  renewal  of  notes,  $30,871   75 

The  business  manager  desires  instruction  in  regard  to  the  charges  made 
to  students  for  college  expenses. 

1st.  Are  students  who  enter  college  late  in  a  term  to  be  charged  full 
rates,  from  the  beginning  of  the  term,  or  from  the  time  that  they  enter  ? 

2d.  When  students  leave  college  before  the  end  of  the  term,arQ  they  en- 
titled to  drawbacks  on  their  accounts  ?  and  if  so,  how  is  the  amount  to  be 
refunded  to  be  estimated  ? 

The  attention  of  the  board  is  called  to  the  account  of  J.  P.  Neshikian, 
a  student  from  Armenia,  who  has  been  in  college  during  the  past  year,  but 
whose  work  and  other  payments  do  not  meet  his  expenses.  Shall  the  col- 
lege assume  his  bills  or  must  he  look  up  some  other  way  of  settling  his  ac- 
counts ? 

The  business  manager  has  rented  a  house  for  the  use  of  J.  C.  Johnston- 
baugh,  an  employ^  of  the  college,  and  has  agreed  to  give  it  to  him  for 
occupancy  on  the  1st  of  next  April. 

This  was  rendered  a  necessity  in  order  to  retain  the  services  of  this 
man,  who  is  a  valuable  employ^.  The  rent  to  be  paid  is  fifty-five  dollars 
and  the  taxes. 

The  business  manager  also  placed  in  the  kitchen  end  of  the  president's 
house,  John  Garner,  who  is  to  have  the  use  of  the  house  for  keeping  it  in 
order.  Great  difficulty  was  experienced  in  keeping  this  house  closed,  and 
this  plan  was  resorted  to  in  order  to  secure  the  house  against  invaders! 

A  boarding  club  has  been  given  possession  of  a  portion  of  what  is 
known  as  the  steward's  apartments,  free  of  rent  and  fuel  charges. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  71 

Balance  Sheet  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College^  December  31,  1881. 


Loss  AND  Gain. 


Cr. 


Cr. 


Dr. 


Cr. 


Stock,     

Bills  receivable, 

J.  M.  McKoinbs,        

J.  I.  Thompson,  junior,    .  . 

H.  K.  Hicks 

John  Neldlgh 

William  Neidlgh,      

J.  N.  Hoy 

E.  E.  Hunter,  .  .  . 

G.  W.  Johnstonbaugh,      .  . 
J.  Johnstonbaugh,    ... 

Coal  account, 

Water  supply, 

Professor  J.  Hamilton,     .  . 
Chemical  department,    .   .  . 

Campus, 

Interest, 

Treasury. 

College  farms,  .   ■ 

Central  Experimental  farm, 

G.  L.  KUne,      

instruction,    .  .  .... 

Physical  department,  .... 

Furniture.  

Oil  and  lights,      

J.  C.  Johnstonbaugh,     .  .  . 

8.  S.  Hunter,  

Medical  department,    .... 

W.  W.  Rupert, 

Andrew  Tressler, 

C.  Strubie, 

Levi  Williams,     

J.  Shuey,     . 

W.  Gardner,      

Flower  garden, ." 

Cyrus  Woods, 

J.  W.  Alexander,      

D.  O.  Elters, 

Annie  Barr 

W.  B.  Hughes,        

W.  E.  Gray, 

Ed.  Chambers,      

Ice-house,  

Agricultural  chemistry,    .  . 

William  Foster,      

J.  P.  Nesklkian,     

J.  T.  Neidlgh,  

R.  W.  Carlurlght, 

Military  department,  .  . 

J.  E   Mitchell,      

Annie  L.  Gr.iy, 

E.  Tyson,         

John  Foster, 

G.  S.  Chadman, 

Frank  Mitchell,      

E.  &K.  Isett, 

J.  H.  Mollis, 

J.  I.  Fulton,         

Natural  science, 

J.  F.  Gray,  

J.  W.  Krumrln, 

J.  A.  Beaver,        

Hiram  Osman, 

Andrew  Lytle,     

A.  B.  Lucas,      

N.  E.  Esnion, 

H.  Mitchell,       

C.  Bothgate, 

8.  D.  Kay, 

Wash-house,     

G.  A.  Landes,      

Patriot  Company, 

G.  Gugenheimer,       

Samuel  Dale,      

Jennie  Orvls,  ... 

Mathematical  department,  . 

A.  Stackhouse,     

8.  Leitzel,                 .      .  . 
Suspense  account, 


f779  96 


850  69 
99  00 


37  43 

28  66 


(198  36 


125,727  37 


(255  19 
52  84 
225 
01 
825 
18 
800 

5  00 
92 
75 

470  00 

1,221  90 

34  78 

3,124  52 

179  55 
2,676  26 

6  641  40 

1,376  44 

456 

2,858  99 

5,636  15 

50  00 

30  43 

6  68 
25  00 

5  59 
120 

82  50 
172 
350 

27  50 

19  00 
78  00 
10  00 
900 
140 
63 
13  50 


13  45 

104  37 
70 
1  00 
23  50 
3  42 
468 
200 
600 
964 

14  00 
600 
3  95 
1  60 

43150 
9  69 
1  68 

15  35 
U90 

60 
28  20 

53  22 
966 
550 

54  37 
227  74 

590 
324 

40  00 
15  75 
80  47 

199  00 
30  25 

41  61 
800  60 


^2  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Balance  Sheet  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College — Continued. 


John  Lytle,     

Dr.  Thomas  Christ, 

A.  T.  Lavelette, 

George  Hoffer 

T.  Sapplugton,     

F.  Slatterly,       

Uniform  account,  ...      

Western  Experimental  farm,    .... 
Eastern  Experimental  farm,     .... 

M.  Thompson, 

James  Kay, 

House  rent,     

William  Bell,       

Prof.  C.  F.  Reeves, 

A.  M.  Cooper, 

Prof.  W.  A.  Buckhout, 

F.  Krumrlne,       . 

W.  C.  Patterson, 

Advertising  and  printing, 

Prof.  J.  H.  Jordan, 

Berwlnd,  White  &  Co., 

General  expense, . 

J.  Houser,  

Prof.  J.  Y.  McKee, 

Prof.  I.  T   Osmond 

Prof.  L.  H.  Barnard, 

Prof.  J.  Jackson, 

Bills  payable, 

P.  Rudy,  

Mary  Herman,      

Prof.  C.  A.  Smith,        

Repairs  and  Improvements, 

Daniel  Musser, 

Mattern  Brother,       

William  Moore, 

Insurance, 

B.  Beaver, 

E.  H.  Laphore, 

E.  Houseman, 

W.  Markle,     

Vineyards, 

L.  S.  Hart, 

Mechanical  department,  .... 

John  Corrlgan, 

J.  W.  Houser,  ...  

Phoenix  Planlng-MlU  Company,    .  . 

James  I.  Thompson, 

Robert  Barr, 

L.  S.  Bailey, 

L.  L.  Brown,     

P.  G.  Meek, 

J.  Garner, 

F.  Delker, 

J.  I.  Williams, ... 

Sinking  fund,       

P.  Lauch, 

M.  Kelffe,    

L.  C.  Long, 

N.  E.  Mulbarger,       

W.Stewart, 

Mrs.  Osman, 

J.  C.  Krumrlne,     

Graham,  Emll  &  Passmore,    ... 

J.  Smiles,  

WlUlamsport  Oil  Company, 

S.  Grub,        .  .  .  .      

Sundries  In  Surveyor  GeneraPs  acc't 

College  building, 

To  stock,  net  gain, 


Loss  AND  Gaik. 


Dr. 


(234  89 


Net  liability. 


Total  resonrces  and  liabilities, 
Met  liability  as  per  stock,    .  .  , 


70  36 
1,485  21 
2,837  99 

f6,428  33 


(24  15 


1,779  50 


635  15 


Stock. 


Dr. 


32  64 
307  60 


2,575  00 


(6,428  33 


(3  00 
3  30 
12  32 
50  33 
12  13 
18  00 
37  76 


(25,727  37 


(2,837  99 


22,889  38 
(25,727  37 


(27,5.50  97 
22. 889  38 


(50,440  35 


(50,440  35 


(50,440  35 


Respectfully  submitted.       JOHN  HAMILTON,  Business  Manager. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  Statk  College.  t8 

Witness  reads  paper  No.  8,  as  follows  : 

The  following  schedule  is  intended  to  show  the  cost  of  the  Educational 
Department  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  from  Januar3"  1,  1866,  to 
December  31,  1881.  The  accounts  are  for  the  most  part  given  under  their 
appropriate  ledger  headings  and  the  items  can  easily  be  verified  by  a  ref- 
erence to  the  college  books  and  accounts. 

The  object  of  the  exhibit  is  to  show  that  the  income  from  the  land  scrip 
fund  has  been  expended  within  the  limits  of  the  law  of  Congress.  The 
law  forbids  the  use  of  said  fund  or  the  interest  thereof  for  the  construction 
or  repairs  of  any  buildings  and  allows  its  use  for  the  other  expenses  of  the 
college. 

The  total  income  from  the  land  scrip  fund  to  December  31,  1881,  has 
been  $343,157  12.  The  expenditures  as  per  the  schedule  have  been,  for 
the  same  time,  $458,676  82,  leaving  a  balance  of  expenditures  over  the 
amount  received  from  this  fund  of  $114,919  70. 


u 


Report  of  the  Committee. 


[No.  18, 


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Pennsylvania  State  College. 


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T6  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  Just  now  we  had  an  indebtedness  to  the  amount  of  $46,000,  and  now 
we  have  $50,000? 

A.  That  $46,000  was  simply  the  amount  of  money  borrowed  and  unpaid 
December  3i,  1881.  It  was  an  account  of  our  notes  coming  due  February 
5,  1882.  The  $50,000  shows  the  entire  indebtedness  of  the  college  De- 
cember 31,  1881,  including  the  $46,000  of  outstanding  notes. 

Q.  The  revenue  of  the  college  is  not  sufficient  for  running  expenses  ? 

A.  Some  years  it  has  been  and  others  it  has  not. 

Q.  You  state  that  the  assets,  as  shown  in  balance  sheet,  (paper  7,)  were 
necessary  for  the  equipment  of  the  college  ? 

A.  The  most  of  them. 

Q.  And  cannot  be  sold  ? 

A.  The  most  of  them  are  inventories  of  property. 

Q.  You  could  make  application  to  the  reduction  of  that  debt,  which  you 
said  was  something  over  $5(',00t .  Just  give  me  the  figures — the  amount 
applicable  without  detriment  to  the  running  of  the  college. 

A.  There  is  cash  $2,676  26,  as  one  entry. 

Q.  That  is  the  only  thing  that  is  really  available? 

A.  All  the  things  could  be  sold,  but  we  could  not  get  along  without  them. 

Q.  About  all  that  you  have  available  against  that  indebtedness  is  bills 
receivable  and  current  accounts  receivable,  and  cash  on  hand  ? 

A,  Yes,  sir ;  some  of  the  farm  inventorj^  is  also  another  item,  stock  and 
cattle,  stall  fed,  which  can  be  sold. 

Q,.  Have  you  any  amount  of  money  in  live  stock  that  is  convertible 
without  prejudice  to  the  farming  interest  ? 

A.  We  had  on  the  1st  January. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  (Referring  to  paper  No.  7.)  What  is  this  expense  of  $4,000  on  the 
campus  ? 

A.  We  made  the  roads.  We  graded  it.  The  holes  that  were  there  have 
been  filled  up.  Several  thousand  loads  of  stone  were  deposited  in  them. 
There  was  also  the  planting  of  trees  and  the  building  of  fences,  &c.,  &c. 

Q.  How  many  acres  are  included  in  what  j'ou  call  the  campus  ? 

A.  1  suppose  there  are  thirty  acres,  including  the  grounds  about  the 
president's  house  and  Professor  Smith's  house,  and  running  back  to  the 
woods. 

Q.  You  call  it  the  campus  from  out  in  the  main  road  clear  back  to  Mc- 
Kee's  house  ? 

A.  Beyond  that ;  back  to  the  woods. 

Q.  You  have  a  bill  for  advertising — what  was  that  for  ? 

A.  To  show  to  the  public  the  benefits  and  advantages  of  the  college,  and 
for  the  printing  of  our  catalogues  and  distributing  them  through  the 
country. 

Q.  Advertising  in  that  case  means  printing  ? 

A.  The  heading  is  "advertising  and  printing." 

Q.  You  do  not  mention  whether  you  have  a  flower  garden  in  that 
campus  ? 

A.  We  have,  but  not  a  very  large  one. 

Q.  You  have  been  doing  more  with  that  lately  than  formerly  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  something  more.  We  try  to  keep  the  drives  in  the  grounds 
in  good  condition,  and  the  grass  on  the  lawn  closely  cut.  This  about  ex- 
pends the  appropriation, 

Q.  Did  you  derive  any  revenue  or  profit  from  the  garden  ? 

A.  We  have  not  been  running  a  vegetable  garden  in  recent  years.     Since 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  77 

the  college  ceased  to  have  a  boarding  department,  the  vegetable  garden  was 
abandoned. 

By  Mr.  Newmyer : 
Q.  There  is  a  large  farm  adjoining  the  grounds.     Does  it  yield  a  revenue? 
A.  Yes,  sir;  yielded  a  revenue  tor  last  year,  after  paying  the  campus 
deficit.     Shows  a  net  gain,  after  paying  $318  62  for  the  campus,  of  $464    11, 
making  really  a  gain  of  nearly  ^S8U0. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Q.  The  farm  is  about  what  size  ? 
A.  About  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  cultivation. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 
Q.  I  do  not  understand  that  amount  paid  b}'  the  farm  to  the  campus. 
A.  The  trustees  require  the  farm  to  maintain  the  campus  to  the  extent 
of  furnishing  a  certain  amount  of  labor  and  teams  to  it.     These  teams  and 
this  labor  are  charged  up  against  the  campus  account,  but  do  not  come  out 
of  its  appropriation.     An  appropriation  is  made  to  the  campus  at  the  be- 
ginning of  each  year  by  the  trustees.     This  appropriation  is  expended  for 
b,bor,  tools,  &c.,  for  keeping  it  in  good  condition,  and  is  in  addition  to  the 
assistance  rendered  by  the  farm.     At  the  close  of  the  year  the  amount 
charged  to  the  campus  account  in  excess  of  the  appropriation,  is  back 
charged  to  the  farm  account,  and  last  year  this  back  charge  or  deficit  of  the 
campus  account  was  $3l8  62. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 
Q.  In  other  words,  the  farm  kept  up  the  campus  ? 
A.  Partly. 

By  Mr.  Roberts : 
Q.  Perhaps  Mr.  Hamilton  has  something  else  ? 

A.  I  have  the  books  and  papers  of  the  college  for  the  examination  of  the 
accounts. 

Q.  Vouchers  and  account  books  ? 

A.  I  have  the  books  from  the  beginning  of  the  college,  from  the  date  of 
its  organization,  up  to  the  present  time,  and  1  have  the  vouchers  arranged 
in  order  since  l»65. 

By  Mr.  Alexander:  » 

Q.  Up  to  the  beginning  of  this  year  ? 
A.  To  the  beginning  of  this  year. 

By  Mr.  Roberts  : 
Q.  Was  there  a  period  in  the  college  when  there  was  a  diflScult}'  about 
knowing  precisely  how  we  stood,  occasioned  by  a  gentleman  who  had  charge? 
A.  I  believe  there  was.     At  that  time  I  was  a  student  in  the  college,  and 
I  have  no  personal  knowledge. 

Q.  Even  from  that  period  you  say  you  have  vouchers? 
A.  I  have  vouchers  right  through.     1  have  vouchers  from  1865  for  every- 
thing, and  can  get  vouchers  for  the  entire  time  for  all  the  payments.     But 
the  vouchers  from  1857  up  to  1866  are  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  E.  C.  Humes, 
who  was  treasurer  at  that  time,  and  he  has  them  among  bis  papers,  and  does 
not  know  just  where  they  are. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 
Q.  How  do  the  vouchers  and  books  compare  ? 
A.  I  do  not  know  that  I  understand  you. 
Q.  Do  the  vouchers  bear  out  the  books  ? 

A.  The  vouchers  are  for  the  entries  that  are  made  in  the  treasurer's  ac- 
count and  the  president's  account  in  the  books. 
Q.  Are  there  vouchers  for  every  dollar  ? 


T8  Report  of  the  Uomimittee.  [No.  18, 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  for  everj'  dollar,  I  believe ;  so  far  as  I  know,  for  every 
dollar. 

At  this  point  Senator  Alexander  read  the  testimony  of  J.  H.  Jackson, 
from  the  report  of  the  Ackerly  committee,  for  the  purpose  of  refreshing 
Frofess(jr  Hamilton's  memor3\ 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  How  long  have  you  been  connected  with  the  State  college  as  its  busi- 
ness manager  and  treasurer  ? 

A.  I  was  appointed  business  manager,  or  rather  financial  agent,  I  believe, 
in  the  fall  of  1867,  and  I  acted  through  1868  up  to  about  February,  1869, 
at  Avhich  time  I  resigned,  and  in  the  spring  of  lb71  I  was  appointed  Pro- 
fessor of  Agriculture ;  and  I  think  it  was  about  1873  that  T  was  made  busi- 
ness manager,  and  in  1874  I  was  made  treasurer. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer  : 

Q.  Have  you  held  that  position  ever  since  ? 

A.  Ever  since,  except  tliat  I  was  temporarily  absent  in  1879,  and  another 
acted  in  my  place. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  How  long  did  you  occupy  the  position  as  manager  of  the  experimental 
farms  ? 

A.  From  about  mid-summer,  lb71,  to  mid-summer,  1880. 

Q.  State  how  these  farms  were  managed  under  3'our  direction ;  just  ex- 
plain what  you  did. 

A.  The  farms  were  established  by  the  board  of  trustees,  who  hiui  made 
out  and  adopted  a  series  of  experiments  for  them,  and  they  also  had  ap- 
pointed superintendents  for  these  farms  before  I  had  charge  of  them.  My . 
duty,  as  I  understood  it,  was  to  see  that  the  instructions  of  the  board  of 
trustees,  as  laid  down  in  their  programme  of  experiments,  was  carried  out 
by  the  superintendents  upon  these  ditferent  experimental  farms.  The 
management  of  that  part  of  the  farms  not  devoted  to  experiments  was 
intrusted  to  a  local  committee  in  each  locality.  The  instructions  to  the 
superintendents  were  to  observe  strictly  the  requirements  of  the  board  of 
trustees,  although  they  were  permitted  to  carry  on  outside  experiments 
that  would  be  of  local  interest  in  the  vicinity  where  the  farms  were  located. 

Q.  Will  you  just  go  on  with  your  statement,  making  a  statement  as  to 
what  you  did  in  regard  to  the  programme  of  experiments  that  were  im- 
posed on  these  farms,  at  that  time,  in  a  general  way,  Mr.  Hamilton  ? 

A.  The- plan  of  experiments  that  the  trustees  adopted  is  given  in  their 
published  reports  of  the  operations  of  these  farms.  It  was  arranged  in 
live  tiers  of  plots  of  one  eighth  of  an  acre  in  each  plot,  and  forty-four  plots 
in  each  tier.  The  purpose  of  the  arrangement  of  this  system  of  plots  was 
to  test  the  various  questions  that  they  considered  of  importance  in  agri- 
culture, in  ditferent  localities  throughout  the  State.  The  same  programme 
of  experiments  was  prescribed  for  each  farm,  and  the  same  plot  on  each 
farm  was  required  to  be  plowed  and  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  upon 
the  other  farms. 

By  Mr.  Newmyer  : 

Q.  How  were  the  results  of  these  experiments  given  to  the  public,  if 
they  were  so  given  ? 

A.  The  products  ot  the  plots  were  carefully  harvested  and  weighed  and 
the  results  were  tabulated,  and  were  reported  to  the  Professor  of  Agricul- 
ture by  the  superintendents  of  the  ditferent  farms  upon  the  1st  of  De- 
cember of  each  year,  and  the  Professor  of  Agriculture  tabulated  the  re- 
ports of  the  superintendents,  and  submitted  them  to  the  board  of  trustees. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  79 

The  board  of  trustees  presented  them  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State, 
and  they  were  printed  in  the  public  documents  of  the  State. 

Q.  So,  then,  it  was  through  these  public  legislative  documents  that  the 
public  were  informed  of  the  results  of  these  experiments,  and  not  other- 
wise, in  other  publications  ? 

A.  From  five  hundred  to  five  thousand  copies,  at  different  times,  of  these 
reports  were  separately  printed,  and  most  of  them  distributed.  I  mean 
five  hundred  copies  some  years  and  as  many  as  five  thousand  in  other 
years. 

By  Mr.  Hall  : 

Q.  In  the  early  days  of  these  theoretical  operations  was  it  the  mode  to 
disseminate  the  results  through  the  newspapers  ? 

A.  I  dcf  not  know  what  was  done  in  this  way  in  the  various  localities  in 
which  the  farms  were  situated,  but  that  was  not  the  regular  method  pur- 
sued by  the  board. 

By  Mr.  Newmyer  : 

Q.  The  manner  in  which  it  was  done,  was  the  only  way  in  which  the 
public  received  official  information  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Were  the  public  furnished  with  any  seeds  or  specimens  of  any  of  the 
products  of  these  farms,  anytlung  like  the  manner  of  distributing  seeds  in 
the  Agricultural  Department  in  Washington  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  can  speak  of  the  Central  farm  from  personal  knowledge. 
A  good  many  seeds  and  different  kinds  of  grains  were  sold,  not  distributed 
gratuitousl}',  but  sold,  and  were  disseminated  throughout  this  and  other 
States  in  that  way. 

Q.  Not  disseminated  gratis  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  I  wish  you  would  state,  if  you  please,  if  any  practical  benefit  was 
derived  by  the  farming  community,  in  this  State,  from  the  operations  of 
these  several  experimental  farms,  other  than  by  the  publication  of  these 
reports,  if  there  was  any  other  practical  benefit  that  you  know  of? 

A.  M}^  view  of  the  matter  is  just  this :  that  it  is  impossible  to  estimate 
in  dollars  and  cents  the  value  of  any  educational  project,  and  that  it  would 
be  exceedingly'  difficult,  indeed  impossible,  to  know  what  influence  the 
publication  of  these  reports,  and  the  work  of  these  experimental  farms, 
had  upon  the  jDublic  at  large. 

Q.  What  benefit  could  the  public  have  derived  if  they  had  seen  these 
reports  ?  What  could  be  their  value,  what  information  could  these  re- 
ports have  afforded  the  public  ? 

A.  The  information  that  we  offered  the  public  was  there  in  the  reports 
for  every  observer  to  see.  A  series  of  experiments  upon  the  rotation 
of  crops,  method  of  culture  and  the  effect  of  deep  and  shallow  culture 
upon  the  soil ;  the  effect  of  different  kinds  of  crops  upon  the  soil ;  the 
effect  of  various  kinds  of  fertilizers  upon  different  crops  in  different 
localities ;  the  results  of  the  planting  of  seeds  that  had  been  imported 
from  vanous  foreign  countries  and  attempted  to  be  acclimated  here ;  the 
effects  upon  seeds  planted  in  various  ways  and  in  various  quantities ;  the 
results  from  thp  planting  of  potatoes  continuously'  in  the  same  ground  for 
many  years ;  the  result  of  planting  potatoes  of  different  sizes  and  at  dif- 
ferent depths — those  that  had  been  cut  and  those  that  were  large  and 
whole,  and  those  that  were  small  and  whole,  and  the  effect  of  barn-yard 
manures  upon  various  crops,  as  corapace'd  with  the  use  of  commercial  fer- 
tilizers ;  the  effect  of  turnmg  down  all  clover  as  against  timothy  ;  the  effect 
of  fallow  as  against  continuous  cropping;  the  effect  of  potatoes  in  the 


80  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

rotation  instead  of  corn ;  the  effect  of  barley  in  the  rotation  instead  of 
oats,  and  many  other  experiments  that  I  cannot  now  recall.  The  farms 
also  attempted  to  raise  many  kinds  of  grain,  all  considered  of  doubtful 
utility,  in  order  to  prove  their  adaptability  to  our  climate  and  soil  before 
distributing  them  to  the  public,  and  when  they  found  seeds  of  value,  or 
what  they  considered  of  value,  they  gave  them  to 'the  public  at  a  reason- 
able rate,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  Norway  oats,  which,  at  one  time, 
were  sold  at  about  $5  00  a  bushel,  the  college  sold  it  at  about  seventy-five 
or  eighty  cents  a  bushel. 

Q.  And  these  experiments  were  faithfully  conducted  to  the  results  ? 

A.  In  some  instances  they  were  not  faithfully  carried  out  and  the  re- 
sults, of  course,  were  of  no  value,  but  so  far  as  the  experimental  farm  at 
the  college  was  concerned,  they  were  carried  out  faithfully,  and  the  results 
were  given  to  the  public  from  year  to  year  in  the  manner  prescribed — 
that  is,  through  the  reports  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

Q.  And  that  was  in  the  legislative  documents,  and  in  addition  to  that, 
the  reports  numbering  from  five  hundred  to  five  thousand  copies  were  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  State  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  it  published  in  the  State  Agricultural  Report  of  the  Agricul- 
tural Society  ? 

A.  Some  of  them,  I  think,  were. 

Q.  Do  you  think  the  public  has  had  suflBcient  opportunity  for  learning 
the  results  of  your  experiments  ? 

A.  1  hardly  know  how  to  answer  that — the  opportunities  were  just  such 
as  I  have  stated. 

Q.  They  were  very  limited  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  would  call  that  limited. 

Q.  Would  you  regard  five  hundred  or  five  thousand  of  these  reports  of 
the  experiments,  distributed  through  this  Commonwealth,  as  a  ver^-  general 
dissemination  of  knowledge  ? 

A.  Five  thousand,  I  am  confident^  were  distributed  one  year,  and  they 
were  also  printed  in  the  legislative  proceedings. 

Q.  That  don't  reach  the  public  concerned — only  one  copy  is  furnished 
each  member  ? 

A.  I  have  reference  to  that  paper  that  j^ou  have. 

Q.  The  Legislative  Journal  ? 

A.  That  is  distributed  throughout  the  State.     It  is  published  in  that,  I 
mean  the  Legislative  Record,  which  is  distributed  throughout  the  State. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  In  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  2, 1862,  section  four  reads  as  follows  : 

"An  annual  report  shall  be  made  regarding  the  progress  of  each  college, 
recording  any  improvements  and  experiments  made,  with  their  cost  and 
results,  and  such  other  matters,  including  State  industrial  and  economical 
statistics,  as  may  be  supposed  useful ;  one  copy  of  which  shall  be  trans- 
mitted by  mail  free,  by  each,  to  all  the  other  colleges  which  maybe  endowed 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  also  one  copy  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior." 

By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Are  you  required,  under  any  act  of  Assembly,  to  furnish  statements 
to  the  State  Agricultural  Society  ? 

A.  In  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  approved  22d  da}^  of 
February,  1.855,  in  section  eight,  it  reads  :  "  That  the  board  of  trustees  shall 
annually  elect  a  treasurer,  who  shall  receive  and  disburse  the  funds  of  the 
institution,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  shall  be  required  of  him,  and 


Leg.  Doc.J  Pennsylvania  State  College.  81 

from  whom  they  shall  take  such  security,  for  the  faithful  performances  of 
his  duty,  as  necessity  shall  require ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  board 
of  trustees  annually,  on  or  before  the  1st  of  December,  to  make  out  a  full 
and  detailed  account  of  the  operations  of  the  institution  for  the  preceding 
year,  and  an  account  of  all  its  receipts  and  disbursements,  and  report  the 
same  to  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural  Societ}',  who  shall  embody 
said  report  in  the  annual  report  which,  by  existing  laws,  the  said  society  is 
bound  to  make,  and  transmit  to  the  Legislature  on  or  before  the  first  Mon- 
day of  January  in  each  and  every  year." 

Q.  Have  the  requirements  of  that  act  been  complied  with  ? 

A.  The  reports  have  been  made  to  the  Legislature  each  year. 

Q.  But  not  to  the  agricultural  society  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  in  regard  to  that. 

Q.  Within  your  time  ?  ' 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  report  your  ''  Address  of  the  State  College  "  to  the  president 
of  the  college  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  l)o  you  know  whether  the  State  Agricultural  Society  is  bound  to 
comply  with  the  act  in  regard  tp  your  report  ? 

A.  I  do  not. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  have  only  made  these  reports  to  the  Legislature  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Ever  since  your  connection  with  the  college  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  I  understood  the^'  refused  to  print  them  one  j-ear  ? 

A.  They  printed  them  in  their  proceedings.  They  did  not  print  them  in 
separate  pamphlets,  for  distribution  by  the  members  of  the  Legislature, 
but  I  believe,  in  every  instance,  they  have  been  printed. 

Q.  AVill  you  inform  yourself  and  let  us  know  whether  the  requirements 
of  that  act  in  relation  to  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  and  publication 
by  them,  has  been  complied  with  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Alexanc'er: 

X^.  Also  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress  in  1862,  in  regard  to 
the  report  made  to  the  Secreta'-y  of  the  Interior  ?  . 

A.  Mr.  Hamilton  reading:  In  section  five,  another  act  approved  the  1st 
day  of  April,  I?$53,  on  accepting  the  grant  of  the  public  lands,  it  reads: 
"  That  the  said  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania  shall,  on  or  before 
the  first  day  of  February,  of  each  year,  make  a  report  to  the  Legislature 
of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  institution  for  the  preceding  year." 
This  explains  the  action  of  the  board  of  trustees  in  reporting  to  the  Legis- 
lature instead  of  to  the  agricultural  society. 

Q.  Are  these  experiments,  on  the  different  farms,  still  kept  up  and  main- 
tained ? 

A.  Xot  the  original  programme  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
By  Mr.  Xewrayer : 

Q.  AVhat  is  the  present  modus  operandi  ? 

A.  The  purpose  of  the  trustees,  as  I  understand  it,  was  to  run  this  series 

of  experiments  for  fifte'en  years.     For  ten  years  of  that  time  they  were 

laithfully  conducted  upon  the  Central  experimental  farm,  and  during  Mr. 

Carter's  term  of  office  on  the  Eastern  experimental  farm,  they  were  carried 

6— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


82  -Report  of  the  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

out  there,  with  the  exception,  I  think,  of  one  year.  Mr,  Harvey,  the  first 
superintendent  at  the  Eastern  experimental  farm,  refused  to  inaugurate 
them.  When  Mr.  Carter  resigned,  and  Mr.  Shelmire  took  charge  of  the 
farm,  he,  through  instruction  from  the  local  committee  in  Chester  county, 
plowed  up  the  lots  and  destroyed  them  so  far  as  future  experiments  of  the 
original  programme  were  concerned. 

Q.  Did  the  board  of  trustees  recognize  such  authority  to  exist  in  the 
local  committee  ? 

A.  As  I  understood  it,  they  did  not. 

Q.  Did  the  local  committee  make  any  eflFort  to  modify'  the  instructions 
of  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  their  instructions  to  the  superintendents  to  plow  up  the 
plots  were  unauthorized. 

Q.  Did  the  board  of  trustees  acquiesce  in  this  new  arrangement,  or  did 
they  dismiss  the  local  committee  ? 

A.  The  result  of  it  was  the  local  committee  resigned. 

Q.  What  year  did  this  conflict  of  authority  occur  in  ? 

A.  1879  and  1880. 

Q.  Is  there  a  local  committee  now  in  existence  in  connection  with  this 
experimental  farm  ? 

A.  Not  with  that  farm  ;  with  the  IndiaMa  farm  there  is. 

Q.  Is  that  found  to  be  a  useful  addition  to  the  running  of  the  farm  ? 

A.  It  was  supposed  by  the  trustees  that  the  local  committee  would  take 
special  interest  in  the  running  of  that  part  of  the  farm,  upon  which  no 
programme  of  experiments  had  been  impressed  by  the  board,  and  that  the 
superintendents  of  the  farm  farmed  the  balance  of  the  farm  according  to 
the  principles  and  practices  of  good  husbandry,  and  that  they  would  audit 
his  account  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  make  report  to  the  board  of  trus- 
tees with  regard  to  the  running  of  the  farm  outside  of  the  experiments 
that  were  prescribed  by  the  board.    • 

Q.  That  was  the  expectation.  How  was  that  expectation  realized  in 
practical  operations  ? 

A.  In  Chester  county  the  local  committee  seemed  to  take  a  great  deal 
of  interest  in  the  farm.  In  Indiana  county  not  so  much.  There  the  local 
committee  part  of  the  time  consisted  simply  of  the  trustee,  residing  near 
the  farm,  and  at  other  times  consisted  of  the  trustee  and  a  member  or 
president  of  the  agricultural  society.  And  at  the  college  the  committee 
were  the  professor  of  agriculture  and  the  president  of  the  Centre  County 
Agricultural  Society.  ■ 

Q.  Now,  Mr.  Hamilton,  you  have  stated  to  the  committee  that  a  portion 
of  these  experimental  farms  was  devoted  to  actual  experiments,  and  that 
the  balance  was  placed  under  the  care  and  management  of  the  local  com- 
mittee.    May  I  inquire  the  amount  that  was  devoted  to  experiments  ? 

A.  About  thirty  acres  of  each  farm  was  devoted  to  experiments ;  the 
balance  was  to  be  run  as  a  model  farm.  More  than  thirty  acres  at  one 
time  was  in  experiments  upon  the  central  firm. 

Q.  How  did  the  model  farm  experiments  turn  out  in  each  case  ? 

A.  Well,  I  think,  with  regard  to  the  central  experimental  farm,  that  it 
is  in  better  condition  than  it  was  when  it  was  purchased.  I  know  that  it 
is  in  a  good  deal  better  condition  than  it  was.  In  Chester  county  I  should 
suppose  that  the  portion  farmed  as  a  model  farm  is  no  worse,  at  all  events. 

Q.  Has  any  benefit  been  derived  from  that  portion  of  the  farm  that  you 
term  model  farm  ? 

A.  Why,  yes ;  the  community  derive  benefit  from  that  portion. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  83 

Q.  Have  they  been  of  any  practical  value  so  far  as  information  to  the 
public  is  concerned  ? 

A.  Well,  the  purpose  of  the  model  farm  is  to  conform  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible to  the  name  that  is  given,  "  The  Model  Farm." 

Q.  You  say  that  was  the  purpose ;  does  it  in  fact  come  up  to  the  ex- 
pectation ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  think  they  come  up  to  the  expectation.  I  think 
the  expectation  of  the  public,  as  a  rule,  is  that  they  should  be  kept  as 
parks,  rather  than  practical  farms ;  but  I  consider  the  model  farm  a  profit- 
able farm. 

Q.  Take  it  in  that  aspect  of  the  case,  have  they  proved  profitable — you 
have  stated  that  they  did  pay  something  of  a  revenue — on  the  amount  of 
money  invested  ?  Would  a  practical  farmer  consider  it  paying  anything 
at  all  on  the  investment,  if  it  paid  as  little  as  the  model  farms  paid  in  the 
way  of  revenue  ? 

A.  The  farms  expend  all  that  they  raise  in  their  own  improvement  and 
for  maintaining  themselves,  and,  like  most  farms,  do  not  pay  a  large  inter- 
est on  the  investment. 

Q.  1  understand  you  have  stated  in  some  portion  of  your  answers  to  in- 
terrogatories, that  there  were  certain  revenues  derived  from  these  model 
farms.  Now,  1  ask  you,  does  that  represent  a  paying  investment ;  in  other 
words,  if  you  had,  as  a  practical  farmer,  a  farm  that  yielded  you  no  more 
than  this  model  farm,  would  you  consider  that  farm  a  paying  business  ? 

A.  I  think,  so  far  as  the  Central  Experimental  farm  is  concerned,  it  has 
been  fully  as  productive  as  any  in  our  community. 

Q.  How  is  it  as  to  the  other  two  ? 

A.  In  Indiana  the  farm  is  not  in  good  condition.  In  Chester  county  I 
see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  as  productive  as  other  farms  around 
there.     I  think  it  is. 

Q.  You  say  that  in  Centre  county  and  Chester  county  the  farms  are 
fully  as  productive  as  other  farms  in  that  vicinity.  But  on  the  amount  of 
mone}'  invested,  actual  cash  value  of  the  ground,  taking  the  entire  invest- 
ment and  the  possible  return  on  that  investment,  do  you  consider  these 
farms  a  paying  investment  to  the  practical  farmer ;  would  you  consider  the 
return  on  that  portion  of  the  farm  which  is  used  and  called  the  model  por- 
tion, profitable  ?  State  whether  the  return  on  that  investment  would  make 
it  a  paying  investment. 

A.  Well,  with  regard  to  the  Central  farm,  I  believe  just  as  I  have  stated, 
that  the  product  of  the  soil  is  equal  to  that  of  neighboring  farms  that  pay 
their  owners  a  liberal  remuneration.  It  must  be  taken  into  account  that 
these  farms  must  first  pay  a  salary  to  the  superintendents. 

Q.  Y"ou  count  that  part  of  the  revenue  derived  from  the  farms  ? 

A.  He  gets  his  salary,  and  the  men  we  employ  upon  those  farms,  as  com- 
mon laborers,  are  more  expensive  men  than  an  ordinary  farmer  keeps  upon 
his  farm,  because  of  the  necessity  for  extreme  accuracy  in  the  carrying  on  of 
the  experimental  operations  of  the  farm ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  the 
expense  of  keeping  up  the  model  part  of  the  farm  is  greater,  because  of  the 
fact  that  there  is  that  experimental  portion  attached  to  it ;  and  besides,  it 
is  expected,  upon  a  model  farm,  that  the  implements,  animals,  buildings, 
&c.,  shall  all  be  in  prime  condition.  If  this  is  done  upon  an  ordinary  farm, 
to  any  great  extent,  there  would  not  be  a  very  large  revenue  in  the  pocket 
of  the  farmer  at  the  end  of  the  year.  With  regard  to  the  Eastern  farm,  I 
think  that  they  paid  their  superintendent  too  large  a  salary  for  the  require- 
ments of  the  situation.  The  farms  have  had  to  have  an  appropriation  each 
year,  in  addition  to  their  other  income,  in  order  to  maintain  themselves. 


84  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

No  account,  so  far  as  I  know  now,  was  kept  with  the  model  part  of  the  farm 
so  as  to  answer  your  question  from  figures.  I  can  only  give  you  what  I 
believe  to  be  the  fact,  that  the  Eastern  and  Central  farms  are  productive^' 
but  they  are  necessaril}^  attended  with  greater  expense  in  carrying  them  on 
than  would  be  incurred  upon  an  ordinary  farm  farmed  in  the  usual  wa}'. 
Where  a  man  superintends  his  own  laborers  and  is  willing  to  use  ordinar^^ 
cheap  labor,  and  often  an  insufficient  quantity  of  it,  he  will  doubtless  have 
more  cash  on  hand  at  the  end  of  the  j^ear  than  if  he  hires  a  superintendent 
and  skilled  labor.  At  times  it  is  found  necessary,  on  those  farms,  to  em- 
ploy quite  a  number  of  men  in  order  that  the  products  may  be  harvested 
promptly,  and  that  the  operations  be  performed  as  nearly  together  as  pos- 
sible. This  is  attended  with  considerable  more  expense  than  would  be 
necessary  upon  an  ordinai'y  farm. 

Q.  What  disposition  is  made  with  all  the  products  of  these  farms  ? 

A.  The  farms  are  permitted  to  use  their  own  income  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  themselves. 
By  Mr.  Alexander: 

Q.  You  stated  that  in  18'79  the  local  committee  in  Chester  county  re- 
signed.    How  has  that  farm  been  managed  since  that  time  ? 

A.  During  1879,  up  to  April  1,  1880,  Warren  Shelmire  was  superintend- 
ent. On  the  1st  of  April,  1880,  Mr.  J.  F.  Hickman,  a  graduate  of  the 
college,  was  appointed  superintendent,  and  he  is  at  present  upon- the  farm, 
and  is  directed  in  his  operations  by  the  professor  of  agriculture  at  the 
college. 

Q.  Has  he  re-organized  the  experimental  plots — that  system  as  prescribed 
by  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

A.  After  the  plots  upon  the  Eastern  farm  had  been  plowed  up,  I,  as  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture,  was  directed  by  the  executive  committee  of  the  board 
of  trustees  to  make  out  a  new  programme  of  experiments,  to  be  entered 
upon  by  all  these  farms,  to  be  submitted  to  the  executive  committee  of 
the  board  of  trustees  for  approval  before  going  into  effect.  £  made  out  such 
programme,  and  it  was  adopted  by  the  executive  committee  of  the  board 
of  trustees,  and  ordered  to  go  into  operation.  It  was  claimed  hy  the  su- 
perintendent upon  the  Eastern  farm  that  it  was  too  late  in  the  season  to 
undertake  it,  but  upon  the  Central  farm,  the  part  of  it  that  could  be  un- 
dertaken in  the  spring  was  entered  upon,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year 
the  entire  programme  was  in  operation  upon  the  Central  Experimental 
farm.  It  was  never,  I  believe,  put  into  operation  on  the  Eastern  farm. 
The  midsummer  of  that  year  there  was  some  difficulty  between  the  su- 
perintendent and  myself  with  regard  to  matters  of  management.  I  was 
partly  in  charge  at  the  time,  and  was  awaiting  the  election  of  a  new  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture,  and  so  this  programme  never  went  into  operation 
upon  the  Eastern  farm.  When  Mr.  Hickman  was  appointed  superintend- 
ent, and  Professor  Jordan  had  been  elected  Professor  of  Agriculture,  an- 
other programme  was  made  out  by  Professor  Jordan,  and  put  in  opera- 
tion on  the  Central  farm  and  Eastern  farm. 

Q.  How  about  the  Western  farm,  the  programme  of  experiments  ? 

A.  The  original  one  prescribed  by  the  board  of  trustees  was  impressed 
upon  the  Western  farm,  and  for  a  number  of  years  was  attempted  to  be 
carried  out,  but  it  was  found  out  that  the  experiments  were  of  little  value, 
inasmuch  as  some  of  them  w^ere  upon  upland  and  some  of  them  upon  low 
land  that  was  wet,  and  consequently  there  could  be  no  comparison,  and  in 
winter  the  grain  would  freeze  out  whilst  the  grass  crop  would  show  very 
well.  It  was  considered,  after  several  years  of  trial,  by  the  board  inad- 
visable to  continue  the  experiments  there  in  the  form  they  had  been  pre- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College, 

scribed,  until  the  land  had  been  properly  drained.  The 
financial  difficult^^  at  the  time ;  there  was  no  money  to  drain  the 
so  the  matter  was  continued  up  to  the  present  time  ;  and  there  are,  there- 
fore, no  experiments  conducted  upon  the  Western  Experimental  farm. 
If  the  farm  is  continued  at  all,  something,  I  doubt  not,  will  be  done  to 
bring  it  into  condition  to  carry  out  this  system  of  experiments  that  has 
been  prescribed. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  Do  you  mean  this  spring  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  I  suppose  not  this  spring.     You  understand  I  am  not  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture  now,  and  so  can  not  speak  for  the  future. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer  : 

Q.  Still  you  are  familiar  with  the  operations  of  the  farm  ? 

A.  Yet  I  cannot  speak  as  to  the  operations  in  the  future. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Q.  in  your  opinion  is  it  necessar}'^  that  three  experimental  farms  should 
be  maintained  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  at  present. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  What  is  jnur  idea  as  to  that ;  whether  or  not  three  experimental 
farms  will  be  more  beneficial  to  the  science  of  agriculture  than  one,  taking 
into  consideration  the  difference  in  soil  in  the  Western  farm,  Central  and 
Eastern  farms,  and  taking  into  consideration  the  means  that  the  college 
has  at  its  disposal  to  conduct  these  three  farms  ? 

A.  It  would  depend  a  great  deal,  of  course,  upon  how  these  farms  were 
conducted.  My  idea  of  thte  kind  of  work  that  should  be  done  upon  these 
farms  is  somewhat  different  from  that  which  has  been  done  upon  them,  and 
would  require  a  larger  expenditure  of  money  than  has  been  expended  upon 
any  one  of  them.  If  but  one  farm  were  established  I  think  we  could  es- 
tablish a  station  such  as  is  found  in  some  European  countries  for  advancing 
the  science  of  agriculture,  and  equip  that  station  with  men  of  attainments 
in  the  various  departments  of  science,  and  conduct  experiments  not  only 
in  the  soil  but  upon  cattle  feeding  and  fertilizers  and  investigation  of  the 
various  manufactured  products,  foods,  &c.,  and  so  advance  the  cause  of 
agriculture  in  Pennsylvania  through  a  higher  kind  of  experimentation  than 
what  has  been  conducted  heretofore. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer  : 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  station  ? 

A.  Perhaps  you  could  get  my  idea  better,  Mr.  Xewmyer,  by  reading  an 
article  that  I  have  written  on  the  subject  and  published  in  the  Agriculture 
of  Pennsylvania  for  1880. 

Q.  You  do  not  mean  by  a  station  necessarily  a  farm  ? 

A.  A  farm  should  be  connected  with  it  in  order  to  carry  on  experiments 
in  agriculture. 

By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  It  would  be  strictly  an  experimental  farm,  and  greater  consideration 
extended  to  the  experiments  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  and  the  subject  of  them  would  be  much  wider.  My  idea  is 
that  experiments  that  are  conducted  there  should  be  accurately  conducted 
and  no  expense  should  be  spared  to  get  at  accurate  results,  even  to  the 
analyses  of  products.  And  in  order  to  scientific  investigation,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  conduct  it  by  scientific  men,  skilled  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  science.  It  seems  to  me,  were  such  a  station  established  it  could 
be  more  economically  managed  by  placing  it  near  a  college  and  requiring 


86  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

the  professors  to  do  most  of  this  scientific  work,  and  then  publish  and 
distribute  their  reports  as  widely  as  possible. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  If  you  had  a  sufficient  amount  of  money,  however,  would  it  not  be 
better  to  have  three  experimental  stations  than  one  ?  Is  it  not  a  question 
of  dollars  and  cerits  ? 

A.  I  think  it  would  be  better,  but  I  doubt  whether  it  would  be  enough 
better  to  j  ustify  the  additional  expense. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer: 

Q.  With  the  present  resources,  does  it  justify  you  in  maintaining  three 
experimental  farms  ? 

A.  I  think  not,  sir. 

Q.  Will  you  please  give  the  number  of  pupils  in  attendance  last  year  ? 

A.  In  the  catalogue,  1880  and  1881,  it  is  one  hundred  and  sixty-four. 

Q.  In  all  departments  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  What  proportion  of  these  are  in  the  collegiate  department  ? 

A.  I  cannot  tell. 
Bv  Mr.  Newmyer: 

Q.  Can  you  give  us  the  average  length  of  the  attendance  of  the  students 
at  the  college  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  cannot  tell. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  I  do  not  think  you  answered  Mr.  Newmyer's  question  as  fully  as  the 
question  deserves,  Mr.  Hamilton.  You  have  stated  in  your  answers  to  in- 
terrogatories the  number  of  graduates  of  the  institution  within  a  certain 
period  of  years.  Can  you  account  for  the  comparatively  small  percentage 
of  students  who  graduate  and  complete  their  course  ? 

A.  I  think  there  are  various  reasons.  In  the  early  part  of  the  history  of 
the  institution,  I  think  that  it  was  due  to  what  seems  to  me  now  to  be  a 
mistaken  policy  that  was  adopted  at  that  time,  in  the  matter  of  labor ;  that 
students,  in  some  instances,  were  dissatisfied  with  what  they  considered  an 
excessive  amount  of  practical  work. 

Q.  Labor  required? 

A.  I  think  another  reason  is  the  limited  circumstances,  financial  circum- 
stances, of  a  good  many  of  our  students,  who  were  on  that  account  unable 
to  complete  the  college  course. 

Q.  Not  by  reason  of  the  actual  expense,  but  by  reason  of  the  loss  of 
time? 

A.  Time  and  expense. 

Q.  Do  you  know,  Mr.  Hamilton,  whether  or  not  the  curriculum  laid 
down  in  the  catalogue  is  rigidly  adhered  to  ? 

A.  I  believe  that  the  curriculum  as  laid  down  in  that  circular  is  carried 
out  in  every  particular. 

Q.  Do  you  not  require  students  to  perform  practical  farm  work  ? 

A.  1  believe  they  are  not,  on  the  farm,  now.  They  work  in  the  garden, 
and  in  the  orchard  and  in  the  vineyard  and  on  the  campus. 

Q.  Is  that  required  or  optional  ? 

A.  It  is  required.  The  rule  is  that  each  of  these  classes  of  students, 
during  the  entire  time  that  they  are  engaged  upon  their  practicum  work, 
shall  be  superintended  by  a  professor.  And  the  value  of  the  s^ystem  of 
practicums  lies  in  the  instruction  feature.  The  student  work,s  not  for  profit 
to  the  college,  but  for  instruction  or  information  for  himself. 

Q.  Practical  instruction  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  87 

A.  Yes,  sir.  When  a  student,  for  instance,  worked  upon  the  farm, he  had 
a  regularly  graded  course,  and  he  was  not  required  to  do  the  same  thing 
twice  after  he  knew  how  to  do  it.  If  he  plowed  to-day,  he  probably  would 
not  plow  to-morrow.  Whilst  he  was  engaged  in  plowing,  a  college  laborer 
walked  alongside  of  him  during  the  entire  time,  and  the  professor  in  charge 
gave  him  such  a  portion  of  his  time  as  was  not  occupied  b}'  attention  to 
students  employed  elsewhere  on  the  farm  at  other  work.  That  has  not 
been  in  operation  this  last  fall.  I  do  not  know  what  the  intention  is  for 
the  coming  summer. 

Q.  The  only  expense  that  the  student  incurs  in  attending  that  college  is 
boarding  and  clothing  ? 

A.  J^o,  sir ;  he  pays  forty  dollars  a  year  to  the  college. 

Q.  For  tuition  ? 

A.  If  he  lives  in  the  college  he  pays  forty  dollars  for  room  rent,  fuel, 
and  furniture,  and  incidentals,  the  use  of  the  public  rooms  and  the  heating 
of  the  public  rooms,  halls,  &c.,  and  paying  of  the  janitors.  If  he  rooms 
out  of  the  building  he  pays  simply  fourteen  dollars  a  year  incidentals,  for 
those  things  that  students  enjoy  in  common,  the  use  of  the  public  rooms 
and  heating  and  lighting  of  the  building. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  No  charge  for  tuition  ? 

A.  No  charge  for  tuition.  In  case  students  are  appointed  from  sena- 
torial districts,  no  charge  whatever  is  made. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  7.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 


Met  at  7.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 

The  sub-committee  proceeded  to  examine  the  orders  of  the  president  of 
the  institution,  the  receipts  held  by  the  treasurer  for  the  payment  of  the 
same,  and  the  books  of  accounts  of  the  State  College,  in  order  to  verify  or 
discover  errors  in  the  statement  of  accounts  as  already  presented  and  testi- 
fied to  by  John  Hamilton,  treasurer. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  8  o'clock,  a.  m.,  Wednesday,  March  22,  1882. 


Met  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m.,  Wednesday,  March  22, 1882,  all  members  of  the  sub- 
committee being  present.  Senator  Mylin,  chairman,  in  the  chair.  Minutes 
of  the  last  meeting  read. 

Professor  John  Hamilton  recalled,  and  examined  by  Mr,  Bierly,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  general  committee. 

Q.  Give  the  names  and  post-office  addresses  of  the  students  of  the 
present  college  year,  and  the  occupations  of  their  parents  ? 

A.  The  number  of  students  now  in  attendance  is  eighty.  I  take  it  the 
question  has  reference  to  the  year  from  the  first  of  January.  The  number 
of  students  that  are  now  in  attendance  is  eighty.  The  post-office  address 
I  cannot  give  you,  neither  can  I  give  the  occupations  of  their  parents. 

Q.  The  number  of  graduates  and  number  now  engaged  in  agricultural 
and  mechanical  arts  ? 

A.  The  whole  number  of  graduates  as  shown  by  the  catalogue  since  the 
beginning  is  one  hundred  and  nine,  and  the  number  engaged  in  agricultural 
or  mechanic  arts  I  have  put  down  at  forty -five.  There  is  a  question,  how- 
ever, as  to  whether  certain  of  those  that  I  have  included  in  these  forty- 
five  should  be  so  included,  and  with  permission  of  the  committee  I  will 
read  the  occupation  of  those  graduates  that  I  have  included  in  this  num- 


88  REf>ORT   OF   THE    COMMITTEE.  [No.  18, 

ber  forty-five.     (Witness  reads  from  catalogue.)     If  the  question  had  been 
framed,  "  industrial  arts,"  my  answer  would  have  been  more  accurate. 

Q,.  The  total  charge  made  against  students  for  incidentals,  &c.,  &c.,  since 
the  establishment  of  the  school  ? 

A.  It  would  require  a  good  deal  of  work  to  answer  that  question  accu- 
rately. I  would  have  to  go  over  the  account  of  every  student  that  has  ever 
been  'n  the  institution,  and  the  same  student  for  the  different  years  that 
he  has  been  in  the  institution,  and  I  would  have  to  deduct  from  each  stu- 
dent's account  the  drawbacks  that  he  might  have  received  from  the  col- 
lege, if  he  had  left  at  any  time,  on  account  of  sickness,  or  was  called  home, 
or  had  been  expelled.  It  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion. In  the  early  years  of  the  college  the  charge  was  $100  a  3'ear  for 
everything  ;  that  included  boarding,  light,  fuel,  furniture,  room  rent,  wash- 
ing, and  books.  In  subsequent  years  that  was  made  $200  a  year,  and  that 
included  board,  room  rent,  fuel,  furniture,  and,  I  believe,  washing.  Since 
that  time  the  charges  have  varied  in  different  years,  and  I  cannot  now,  from 
memory,  give  the  variations  that  have  taken  place  up  to  the  pi'esent  time ; 
but  at  one  time  we  boarded  the  students,  and  now  we  do  not,  and,  conse- 
quently the  income  from  students  now,  the  total  income  from  students  now, 
is  much  less  per  year  than  it  was  when  we  ran  a  boarding  department,  and 
required  them  to  pay  for  their  boarding.  The  charges  at  present  are  forty 
dollars  a  year,  the  students  rooming  in  the  building,  and  fourteen  dollars 
a  year  for  the  students  who  room  out  of  the  building. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  What  was  that  for ;  on  account  of  expenses  ? 

A.  Incidentals,  room  I'ent,  fuel,  furniture,  that  is  all. 

Q.  At  the  time  you  boarded  the  students,  was  the  boarding-house  run  at 
a  profit,  or  did  you  run  it  so  as  to  come  out  even  ? 

A.  It  was  run  at  a  loss. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  1  would  like  to  inquire  for  how  long  had  that  experiment  continued — 
boarding  the  students  at  $100  per  year — do  you  know  ? 

A.  Up  to  the  close  of  1865.     They  had  run  in  debt  for  that  educational 
expense  about  $24,000,  and  in  1866  they  run  in  debt  about  $5,000. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  For  educational  expenses  you  include  board  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  the  change  made  then  the  following  j'ear,  1867  ? 

A.  There  was  a  change  made  in  the  price  of  admission  in  1867, 1  believe. 
By  Mr.  Bierly : 

Q.  Give  the  attendance  of  students  each  year. 

A.  That  can  be  given.  I  have  it  not  at  command  now.  For  1 88 1  it 
was,  I  believe,  one  hundred  and  sixty-four. 

Q.  Give  the  average  age  of  students  each  year. 

A.  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  that  for  any  considerable  number  of 
years.  A  record  of  the  age  of  the  students  was  not  kept  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  institution,  or  if  it  was,  it  is  not  to  be  found,  to  ray  knowledge. 

Q.  Give  the  price  of  boarding  at  the  college,  what  opportunities  is  or  was 
afforded  the  students  for  boarding  themselves,  and  what  is  the  system  ? 

A.  The  price  in  boarding-houses  in  the  Adllage  is  $3  per  week.  The 
price  in  the  college  clubs  varies  from  $1  vO  to  $2  25  per  week.  Students 
are  permitted  to  board  in  such  boarding-houses  near  the  college  as  are  ap- 
proved by  the  faculty,  and  there  is  a  boarding  club  established  that  has,  I 
believe,  about  forty  members,  that  is  conducted  in  the  college  building  by 
the  students  themselves. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  89 

Q.  How  many  of  the  present  oftlcers  have  had  practical  experience  as 
farmers  or  in  mechanical  arts  ? 

A.  I  cannot  give  the  history  of  each  one.     Some  of  them  have  had  ex- 
perience in  both  of  these  branches  of  industry,  but  the  number  I  cannot 
now  give,  and  I  would  have  to  get  it  from  the  professors  themselves. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  What  has  been  the  occupation  of  Professor  Jordan  ? 

A.  He  farmed. 

Q.  He  is  now  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  Professor  McKee  was  raised  upon  a  farm.  Heston  was 
raised  upon  a  farm.  Smith  was — he  was  a  manufacturer  of  agricultural 
fertilizers,  and  was  engaged  in  conducting  large  machine  shops  in  the  city 
of  Reading,  and  was  a  lumber  dealer  in  the  west  for  a  nurabe-'  of  years,  and 
owned  a  lumber  yard  of  his  own  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  for  a  number  of 
years.  Professor  Jackson,  I  believe,  had  charge  of  mechanical  shops  in  the 
city  of  Harrisburg  for  several  years,  and  is  now,  I  believe,  interested  in 
mechanical  shops  in  Chester  county,  and  I  believe  was  raised  upon  a  farm. 
Professor  Buckhout  carried  on  farming  for  sej-eral  years  before  he  was 
appointed  professor  of  botany  and  horticvilture,up  near  the  city  of  Oswego, 
in  New  York.  Professor  Barnard  is  a  graduate  of  the  United  States  naval 
acadeia3-,at  Annapolis,  and  is  a  civil  engineer.  Has  been  employed  by  the 
United  States  Government.  Reber  was  a  farmer.  Miss  Annie  Cooper 
was  not  a  farmer,  I  believe.  That  is  about  as  far  as  I  can  go.  1  was  raised 
upon  a  farm.  Farming  is  my  business.  I  now  own  a  farm,  and  run  it 
myself. 

Q.  Why,  with  the  facilities  for  boarding  the  students  at  the  college,  was 
the  plan  of  boarding  them  abandoned,  and  when  ? 

A .  It  was  abandoned  because  it  was  unprofitable,  and  an  actual  loss  to 
the  college.     It  was  abandoned  in  1874. 

Q.  How  many  of  the  present  students  are  boarders,  and  how  manj-  daj' 
Gcholai*s,  or  home  boarders  ? 

A.  I  believe  there  are  sixt}'  who  board  at  the  college,  and  twenty  who 
board  at  home. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  Twenty  of  day  scholars  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  who  board  at  home.     That  includes  the  children  of  profes- 
sors, and  those  of  other  emplo3-^s  of  the  college. 
By  Mr.  Bierly : 

Q.  What  efforts,  if  any,  have  been  made  by  the  managers  of  the  institu- 
tion to  gain  the  good  will  and  confidence  of  the  agricultural  and  industrial 
classes  of  Pennsylvania,  and  b\'  whom  ? 

A.  If  the  question  had  been  framed  ''  and  what  efforts  had  been  spared 
and  not  been  made,"  it  would  have  been  more  easilj^  answered.  The  indi- 
vidual trustees  have  given  their  time  and  money  and  attention  to  this  col- 
lege, and  to  disseminating  the  knowledge  of  its  advantages  to  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania,  as  faithfully  as  any  set  of  trustees  of  any  college  in  the 
country  have  to  their  college.  So  far  as  the  faculty  of  the  college  is  con- 
cerned they  have  tried,  1  believe,  zealously  to  do  their  duty  to  the  pupils 
who  are  there,  and  to  the  citizens  of  the  State.  And,  so  far  as  I  know, 
there  has  been  no  antagonism  on  the  part  of  the  college  towards  any  of  the 
citizens  of  the  State  ;  but  there  has  been  a  constant  desire  to  consult  public 
opinion  by  presenting  the  advantages  such  as  is  contemplated  in  the  act  of 
Congress  and  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  establishing  the  college. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  What  special  means  have  been  used  to  induce  the  owners  of  farms, 
and  others  engaged  in  industrial  pursuits,  to  attend  this  school? 


90  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  The  authorities  of  the  college,  in  the  first  place,  endeavored  to  make 
a  cheap  school,  so  that  those  of  very  limited  means  could  attend,  and 
therefore  they  fixed  the  original  rate  at  one  hundred  dollars  per  year  for 
all  expenses.  They  found  they  could  not  live  at  that  rate.  They  supposed 
that  the  students,  working  upon  the  farm,  could  largely  sustain  themselves, 
but  they  discovered  after  a  while  that  it  was  possible  to  have  too  much 
labor  upon  a  piece  of  land,  and  that  there  was  a  limit  to  the  productive- 
ness of  land,  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  even  board  a  large  number  of 
pupils,  much  less  make  any  profit  out  of  their  labor  upon  a  limited  area 
of  land.  After  they  had  sunk  $24,000  or  more  in  that  experiment  they  in- 
creased the  rate  to  two  hundred  dollars,  and  although  they  limited  their 
expenses  as  much  as  possible,  they  lost  in  one  year  about  $5,000.  They  have 
endeavored  all  the  way  through  to  present  in  their  agricultural  course  such 
studies  as  they  thought  would  be  of  benefit  to  the  farming  community. 
They  have  established  experimental  farms  in  connection  with  the  college ; 
they  have  introduced  a  system  of  practicums  on  the  college  farm  in  the 
interest  of  agriculture ;  they  have  established  laboratories  for  chemical 
analyses  and  botanical  analyses,  and  anatomical  museums  in  the  interest 
of  farmers ;  they  have  prepared  reports  and  distributed  them  throughout 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  giving  the  operations  of  these  farms  and  of  the 
college  for  many  years.  They  have  sent  out  their  president  over  the  State 
to  lecture  to  farmers ;  they  have  invited  farmers  by  thousands  of  circu- 
lars to  send  their  sons  to  the  college,  and  have  shown  in  the  circulars  the 
advantages  of  the  institution ;  have  given  special  courses  of  lectures  for 
farmers  ;  I  do  not  know  what  they  have  not  done,  or  what  they  have  left 
undone  that  they  might  have  done,  as  I  look  back  over  all  the  years,  con- 
sidering the  light  they  had  at  the  time  upon  which  to  have  acted. 

Q.  How  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that  the  general  attendance  has  been 
at  so  low  a  point  with  all  these  inducements  offered  ? 

A.  I  suppose  one  reason  is  the  fact  that  the  college  has  not  been  as 
accessible  to  the  people  as  some  other  institutions,  and  consequently  that 
the  people  are  not  informed. personally  as  to  the  advantages  that  it  pos- 
sesses. The  college  is  open  to  inspection.  It  is  willing  to  stand  criticism 
upon  the  part  of  intelligent  men  who  will  go  there  and  examine  its  courses 
of  instruction  and  go  through  its  laboratories,  and  attend  the  college  and 
see  the  work  that  is  done.  But  if  people  take  hearsay  instead  of  facts 
they  are  likely  to  get  the  story  considerably  mixed.  Our  students,  I  be- 
lieve, as  a  rule,  are  all  friendly  and  favorable  to  the  college.  I  do  not  in- 
clude some  that  have  been  dismissed  for  various  reasons,  but  as  a  rule  our 
students  are  well  disposed  towards  the  college  and  wish  to  do  it  a  good 
turn.  I  believe,  therefore,  in  short,  that  it  is  because  the  people  are  not 
informed  as  to  the  advantages  that  the  college  presents — informed  in  such 
a  way  as  to  convince  them  that  it  really  does  give  the  thing  that  it  pro- 
fesses to  give. 

Q.  Have  you  any  plan  to  suggest  to  give  that  information  ? 

A.  A  railroad  past  the  college  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  best  advertisement 
that  we  could  have.  When  that  day  comes,  and  wlien  the  college  is  enabled 
to  present  still  greater  advantages  than  it  has,  I  believe  it  will  be  full  of 
students.  I  believe,  sir,  that  the  principles  upon  which  it  is  founded  are 
right,  and  that  they  are  bound  in  the  end  to  commend  themselves  to  the 
industrial  classes  of  Pennsylvania. 

Q.  You  think  that,  if  it  had  been  differently  situated,  the  industrial  com- 
munity could  have  ascertained,  by  coming  in  contact  with  the  school,  its 
advantages  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  they  might  have  had  that  knowledge  that  they  ought  to 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  91 

have  had  ;  but,  being  remote  from  a  railroad,  the  public  was  misled  by  a 
sentiment  that,  however  true  it  may  have  been  in  the  early  days  of  the  in- 
stitution, is  now  wholly  mistaken. 

Q.  The  railroad  is  completed  within  five  miles  of  the  college  ? 

A.  The  eastern  portion  of  the  road  is  now  in  running  operation  to 
Spring  Mills,  which  is  about  fifteen  miles  east  of  us.  It  is  graded  to  a  vil- 
lage called  Lemont,  which  is  about  three  miles  east  of  us.  Upon  that  por- 
tion the  ties  have  not  been  laid,  nor  the  rails.  In  the  west  end  the  road  is 
in  running  order  within  six  miles  of  us.  There  is  an  interval,  however,  of 
about  nine  or  ten  miles. 

Q.  That  will  probably  be  completed  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two  ? 

A.  We  hope  it  will  be  completed.  We  have  no  means  of  getting  any 
absolute  knowledge.  There  is  also  a  line  that  has  been  recently  surveyed 
from  Bellefonte  that  comes  within  half  a  mile  of  the  college  and  intersects 
with  the  Lewisburg,  Centre  and  Tyrone  railroad,  within  half  a  mile  of  the 
college,  west.  That  railroad  is  expected  to  be  completed  sometime  soon. 
When  this  Lewisburg,  Centre  and  T3'rone  railroad  is  completed  it  will  run 
not  further  than  half  or  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  college,  possibly 
just  in  front  of  the  college  grounds.  This  will  give  access  east  and  west ; 
to  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  west,  and  to  the  Northern  Central  east. 
By  Mr.  Bierly : 

Q.  If  there  are  thirty-five  pupils  in  the  preparatory  department,  with  a 
principal  and  assistant,  wh^^  does  the  principal  call  for  another  assistant, 
as  he  does  in  the  report  for  1880  ? 

A.  If  you  examine  this  circular  of  the  college  (indicating)  that  has  been 
recently  issued,  you  will  see  on  page  5  the  preparatory  course  for  1881  and 
1882  ;  3^ou  will  see  that  there  is  a  course  in  general  science  and  a  course  in 
classics  in  the  preparatory  department,  and  that  these  two  courses  each 
run  through  two  jears  of  study,  and  that  in  each  year,  or  in  each  session 
of  each  year,  there  are  a  number  of  studies.  Take,  for  instance,  the  fall 
session  of  the  year,  general  science  course,  arithmetic,  algebra,  physiology, 
English  analysis,  making  four  studies  in  all.  In  the  same  session,  the  pre- 
paratory classical  course,  there  are  arithmetic,  algebra,  Latin  grammar  and 
reader,  making  five.  Three  of  these,  however,  are  the  same  as  in  the  general 
science  course, so  that  really-  there  are  six  different  studies.  In  order  to  carry 
these  classes  it  will  require  six  hours  of  recitation,  and  all  the  recitations 
are  heard  in  the  forenoon  of  the  day.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  the 
practicums  of  the  afternoon.  There  are  also  students  in  their  second 
year,  preparatory^  course,  who  are  to  be  heard  in  the  same  time.  In  the 
second  year  there  would  be  in  the  general  science  course,  fall  session, 
algebra,  English  history,  natural  philosophj^  and  German.  For  the  same 
session  of  the  classical  course,  second  jear,  algebra,  English  history, 
Cgesar  and  Latin  composition,  Greek  grammar  and  reader.  Now,  there 
you  have  six  more,  making  twelve  studies,  that  must  be  heard  in  one  fore- 
noon. There  are  four  hours  of  recitation  in  the  morning.  Two  teachers 
could  hear  eight  recitations,  and  it  would  take  another  to  hear  the  other 
four.  The  afternoon  is  taken  up  by  practicums. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  The  recitations  are  how  long — an  hour  ? 

A.  An  hour ;  therefore  the  necessity  of  three  teachers  in  the  prepara- 
tory department.  If,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  some  students  are  a  little 
weak  or  some  a  little  low  in  their  term  studies,  there  is  necessity  for  hav- 
ing a  special  class  in  some  one  or  the  other  of  these  courses  to  bring  up 
these  students,  so  that  they  may,  at  the  end  of  the  term,  pass  their  exami- 
nation, and  go  forward  into  the  next  class.     They  require  special  instruc- 


92  Report  of  the  Committee.  [Xo.  IS, 

tion,  and  that  takes  additional  time  on  the  part  of  the  teachers,  and  then 
there  are  special  students,  to  a  certain  extent,  whose  wants  have  to  be  met. 

Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  this  question :  whetlier  a  half  hoiir  would  not  be 
sufficient  to  hear  a  recitation  in  either  of  these  studies,  arithmetic,  algebra, 
physical  geography,  English  histoi-y,  English  composition,  natural  philos- 
ophy ? 

A.  If  you  had  twenty  students,  each  student  would  have  just  one  minute 
and  a  half  to  be  heard,  not  taking  into  account  going  to  the  board  and 
doing  his  work.  When  a  student  in  arithmetic  goes  to  the  board  he  would 
be  required  to  work  a  problem  in  a  minute  and  a  half  and  explain  it  to  his 
teacher. 

Q.  Suppose  you  put  all  to  the  board  at  once? 

A.  They  could  not,  however,  all  explain  at  once.  In  many  instances, 
except  in  very  simple  questions,  they  could  not  perform  the  manual  opera- 
tion upon  the  board  in  that  time,  in  the  minute  and  a  half  that  w^ould  be 
allowed  them.  In  Latin  or  English  history  it  is  well  to  give  each  student 
an  opportunity  to  recite,  and  an  hour  has  been  found  about  as  little  time 
as  can  well  be  devoted  to  the  class,  if  it  is  of  any  size. 
By  Mr.  Bierly : 

Q.  In  your  report  of  eighty,  you  give  the  number  of  students  working 
a  week  at  practicum  on  the  farm  as  eight.  Please  state  of  w4iat  your 
practicum  consists  and  how  applied  to  the  advantage  of  such  student. 

A.  The  question  is  a  misapprehension  of  the  facts.  Instead  of  their  be- 
ing simply  eight  students  in  practicum,  there  are  the  whole  of  the  fresh- 
man class,  T  believe  fifteen  or  eighteen,  the  preparatory  students  and  the 
sophomore  class,  all  of  whom  work  upon  the  farm.  The  sophomore  class, 
I  think,  had  eight  or  ten,  the  freshmen  for  that  j^ear  were  twenty -two, 
sophomores  were  thirteen,  the  students  in  the  first  preparatory  year  were 
forty -eight,  second  preparatory  year  were  thirty-two. 
By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  All  the  students  participate  in  the  practicum  ? 

A.  They  were  required  to  take  part  in  this  practicum  upon  the  farm 
eight  hours  per  week.  That  "  3  "  in  the  course  refers  to  the  agricultural 
course.  The  plan  was  to  require  practicum  work  upon  the  farm  by  all 
students  in  the  college  in  the  preparatory,  freshmen,  and  sophomore  classes. 
The  work  was  graded.  Tlie  farm  practicum,  as  presented  in  the  catalogue 
of  1879  and  1880,  page  38,  is  as  follows  :  -'The  sessions  are  distributed 
over  the  entire  year,  that  the  student  may  become  acquainted  with  all  the 
operations  of  the  farm.  For  instance,  the  winter  session  is  needed  for  in- 
struction in  the  care  of  animals,  which  subject  is  supplemented  by  those 
of  farm  implements  and  manures.  A  few  brief  statements  must  suffice  for 
illustration.  The  outline  of  the  entire  course  is  comprised  under  the  fol- 
lowing heads  :  ''  farm  implements  and  machinery,"  "  tillage,"  "  animal 
husbandry,"  "  fertilizers,"  "  improvement  of  soil,"  and  "  miscellaneous." 
A  more  detailed  statement  of  the  operations  of  a  single  session  (the  pres- 
ent session  of  the  freshman  year)  is  a&  follows  :  Plowing,  harrowing, 
sowing  grain,  planting  corn,  sowing  plaster,  planting  potatoes,  cultivating 
corn  and  root  crops,  cutting  grass,  cultivating  fallows,  care  of  fences,  re- 
pairing implements,  harnessing  teams,  hauling  and  spreading  manure. 
Each  of  these  kinds  of  work  receives  its  separate  explanation  and  illustra- 
tion. For  example,  under  the  first  topic  are  considered  the  management 
and  adjustment  of  the  plow  for  different  kinds  of  work ;  the  division  of 
the  field  into  sections  of  proper  size  and  shape ;  the  opening  of  the  first 
furrow,  and  the  finishing  of  the  last ;  the  turning  of  the  furrow,  its  depth 
and  breadth,  the  laying  it  flat,  and  the  inclination  of  it  to  an  angle,  &c. 


Leg.  T)oc  ]  Pennsylvania  Stats  College.  93 

Again,  respecting  the  harness,  the  pupil  is  taught  how  to  take  care  of  it, 
to  put  it  together,  and  to  take  it  apart ;  to  put  it  on  the  horse,  and  adapt  it 
for  use  in  single  or  double  team,  and  to  adjust  it  for  ease  of  draft  in  differ- 
ent kinds  of  work,  as  plowing,  harrowing,  wagoning,  &c."  That  simply  is 
an  outline  of  the  method.  The  whole,  I  may  say  here,  is  graded.  The 
student  is  not  required  to  continue  a  kind  of  work  after  he  knows  how  to 
do  it.  The  work  is  intended  to  be  educational,  and  the  course  progressive, 
and  a  record  is  kept,  each  day,  of  the  work  each  student  does,  and  the 
next  day  he  is  put  at  a  different  kind  of  work  and  is  not  required  to  re- 
peat the  old  process  unless  he  has  failed  to  understand  it  when  he  first 
went  over  it.  A  professor  is  required  to  be  present  with  the  students  dur- 
ing the  entire  time  that  they  are  engaged  in  practicum,  (the  professor  in 
whose  department  the  practicum  is  conducted,)  and  he  is  required  to  give 
explanation  of  the  processes  that  are  performed.  For  instance,  on  the 
farm  when  the  students  go  out  to  take  the  plow,  a  skilled  employ^  walks 
by  their  side  during  the  entire  time  that  they  are  plowing,  and  he  gives 
such  instruction  in  the  practical  art  of  plowing  as  he  may  be  able  to  con- 
vey. And  the  professor  of  agriculture,  as  his  time  permits  from  duties  to 
other  students,  engaged  in  other  farm  processes,  gives  such  instruction  in 
the  theoretical  part  of  the  work  as  well  as  the  practical,  as  he  may  deem 
necessary.  The  students,  at  the  end  of  the  term,  are  examined  in  a  writ- 
ten examination  upon  all  the  subjects  of  practice  that  the}-  have  had  dur- 
ing that  term,  and  they  are  graded  and  pass  upon  it  m  exactl}'  the  same 
manner  as  students  pass  in  their  course  of  mathematics. 

Q,  That  answers  the  question  as  to  all  except  the  three  students  in  the 
agricultural  course  ;  these  are  distinct,  I  understand,  from  the  other  practi- 


cum 


A.  The}'^  have  the  same  practicum  as  the  others,  except  that  in  the 
laboratory  their  course  is  somewhat  modified  to  suit  their  future  occupa- 
tions in  life. 

By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  Special  work  ?       • 

A.  They  have  the  same  class-room  instruction  that  the  other  students 
generally  have.  1  may  here  say  that  this  practicum  system  extends  over 
a  large  number  of  ditlerent  processes  about  the  college.  The  garden  has 
its  practicum  ;  the  orchard  has  its  ;  the  vine3-ard  has  its.  There  is  a  prac- 
ticum in  chemistry-,  in  physiology,  in  zoolog}',  in  botany,  in  geology,  in 
entomolog}',  in  English  studies,  &c. 

Q.  Do  you  have,  in  connection  with  chemistry-,  a  practicum  on  the  virtue 
of  fertilizers  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  our  professor  of  chemistr}'.  Professor  Smith,  is  a  practical 
man.     He  at  one  time  was  a  manufacturer  of  fertilizers. 
By  Mr.  Bierly : 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  reason  why  the  department  of  botany,  horticul- 
ture, and  chemistry  should  not  be  consolidated  into  one  and  taught  by  one 
professor,  considering  the  limited  number  of  students  in  each  ? 

A.  It  is  simplj^  impossible.  The  amount  of  time  that  is  required  of  a 
professor  for  teaching  does  not  depend  upon  the  number  of  students,  does 
not  wholly  depend  upon  the  number  of  students  that  he  teaches.  If  he  have 
but  one  student  in  each  class,  and  have  four  classes,  it  requires  four  hours 
of  his  time  to  teach  these  four  students.  If  they  were  in  one  class  he  could 
teach  them  in  one  hour,  and  so  with  regard  to  the  practicum.  In  analyti- 
cal chemistry,  for  instance,  in  the  afternoon  the  professor  has  two  hours  of 
practicum,  and  must  give  his  personal  attention  to  the  students  whilst  en- 
gaged in  this.     With  four  hours  in  the  forenoon  and  two  hours  of  practi- 


94  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

cum  work  in  the  afternooTi,  and  in  addition  to  that  to  look  over  the  papers 
of  the  students  and  correct  them,  and  prepare  experiments  for  his  lectures, 
and  substances  for  examination  in  the  laboratory,  his  time  is  likely  to  be 
fully  occupied.  Then  if  he  have  in  addition  quantitative  analysis,  more 
time  will  be  required  in  order  to  do  justice  to  those  that  he  instructs  in  ad- 
dition to  that  already  indicated.  In  botany  and  horticulture  students  are 
required,  in  the  various  classes,  to  recite  in  each  of  these  studies,  and  there 
are  practicums  in  each  of  these  studies,  so  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
a  man  to  do  justice  to  his  work,  and  take  as  many  departments  as  are  men- 
tioned in  this  question  and  perform  the  work  satisfactorily. 

Q.  State,  if  you  know,  any  reason  why  civil  engineering  should  not  be 
consolidated  with  mathematics  and  astronomy,  there  being  but  six  students 
in  surveying,  thirteen  in  plain  geometry,  and  four  in  calculus  ? 

A.  There  is  in  addition  to  those  algebra  and — 

Q,  That  is  taught  in  the  preparatory  department. 

A.  It  is  also  taught  in  the  freshman  year  of  the  college.  Algebra  is  found 
in  the  fall  and  winter  sessions  of  the  freshman  class.  There  is  algebra, 
geometry,  trigonometry,  surveying,  general  geometry,  and  rational  me- 
chanics, mechanical  engineering,  differential  calculus,  and  integral  calculus, 
and  shades,  shadows,  and  perspective,  and  analytical  mechanics,  the  con- 
struction of  bridges,  &c.,  the  principles  of  mechanics,  surveying,  all  of 
which  come  under  the  head  of  mathematics,  and  it  would  be  impossible  for 
one  man  to  do  justice  to  the  work  and  teach  all  of  these  things  together 
with  astronomy. 

Q.  State  whether  or  not,  with  the  limited  number  of  students  in  each 
class,  one  professor  could  do.  justice  to  the  modern  languages  and  the 
classics  as  well. 

A.  With  the  amount  of  work  that  is  necessary,  without  going  into  detail 
— the  amount  of  work  that  is  put  down  in  that  catalogue — it  would  be  im- 
possible to  be  performed  by  a  professor  with  the  number  of  hours  that  is 
given  it.  I  do  not  know  what  other  answer  to  give,  unless  an  extended 
answer. 

Q.  Now,  sir,  I  presume  you  know  the  fact  that  they  are  consolidated  in 
many  of  our  schools  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  of  any  school  that  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  first- 
class  college  in  which  they  are  consolidated,  do  you  ? 

Q.  I  think  I  do. 

A.  Where? 

Q.  I  think  there  are  plenty  of  them. 

A.  I  believe  I  do  not  know  one. 

Colonel  YiCTOB  Piolette,  sworn  : 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Are  you  connected  in  any  manner  with  the  management  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  College,  and  if  so,  state  in  what  capacity  ? 

A.  I  was  elected  a  trustee  three  years  ago  last  summer.  I  served  for 
three  years,  and  last  year  was  reelected. 

Q.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  practical  operations  of  the  college  ? 

A.  I  cannot  say  that  [  am  ;  not  in  its  details,  only  in  a  general  way. 

Q.  You  have  attended  the  meetings,  1  presume,  of  the  board  of  trustees 
at  the  college  ? 

A.  I  have. 

Q.  How  are  these  trustees  appointed  ? 

A.  If  I  understand  it,  the  board  of  trustees,  managers  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  College,  are  elected  by  delegates  appointed  by  the  agricultural 


Leg,  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  95 

and  mechanical  societies  of  the  State.  If  I  am  not  correct  in  that,  you 
will  correct  me.  I  am  not  familiar  with  the  law.  That  is  my  understand- 
ing of  it. 

Q.  And  their  term  is  for  two  years  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  two  3'ears — three  years. 

Q.  I  wish  you  would  state,  from  your  observation,  your  opinion  as  to 
the  management  and  the  course  of  instruction  and  other  advantages  of- 
fered by  this  college  in  a  general  way,  of  course,  in  a  general  way. 

A.  My  observation  since  I  was  elected  a  trustee,  and  my  understanding 
of  the  principles  for  which  the  National  and  State  governments  have  given 
funds  to  build  and  pay  for  the  management  of  the  college,  contemplated 
merely  an  agricultural  and  mechanical  course  of  studies,  and  that  the  agri- 
cultural and  mechanical  arts  have  been  kept  in  the  background.  That, 
however,  is  the  fault  of  the  people  of  the  State,  who  have  full  power  to 
control  and  manage  the  institution.  My  relations  with  the  board  of  trus- 
tees was  with  the  president  of  the  board.  General  Beaver,  and  others.  I 
do  not  know  as  it  is  their  fault,  because  their  views  were  precisely  mine  in 
the  matter,  and  their  desire  all  the  time  seems  to  have  been,  from  General 
Beaver  down,  to  give  to  agriculture  and  mechanical  arts  the  first  place  in 
the  college. 

Q.  Well,  supposing  the  fault  to  exist  that  you  mention,  can  you  suggest 
any  practical  remedy'  that  could  be  enforced  by  the  Legislature,  or  is  the 
remedy  simply  in  the  hands  of  the  people  themselves  ? 

A.  If  a  small  portion  of  the  funds  expended  annually  was  given  to  pay 
for  attendance  of  delegates,  probably  that  might  bring  them  present. 

Q.  Delegates  from  where  ? 

A.  From  different  parts  of  the  State.  Representatives  of  the  local 
agricultural  and  mechanical  societies,  every  one  interested,  without  any 
expense,  and  the  college  has  b.een  so  inaccessible  and  it  is  expensive  to  at- 
tend and  govern  it.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  this  complaint  which  has 
come  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and  which  you  gentlemen  are  called 
to  consider,  will  be  a  most  fortunate  circumstance  for  the  college.  In  the 
sessions  of  the  board  of  trustees,  without  a  single  exception,  when  consid- 
ering what  should  be  done  the  desire  was  to  make  it  an  agricultural  and 
mechanical  school  rather  than  a  scientific  one,  yet  it  seemed  to  have  been 
generally  thought  the  college  was  managed  by  the  faculty  rather  than 
managed  by  the  trustees. 

Q.  Whose  fault  is  that  ? 

A.  The  fault  of  the  trustees. 

Q.  Do  the  faculty  know  more  how  the  college  should  be  run,  or  do  they 
give  more  attention  to  it  ? 

A.  I  guess  they  have  more  interest  in  it. 

Q.  Does  the  college  afford  the  facilities  to  students  that  it  advertises  and 
holds  out  that  it  affords  in  agriculture  in  all  respects  ? 

A.  If  you  will  put  your  question  there  probably  it  falls  short  of  it. 

Q.  In  what  respect  ? 

A.  In  this  respect :  that  young  men  of  limited  means,  members,  of  fam- 
ilies of  limited  means,  can  not  use  that  institution  to  acquire  a  partial  or 
practical  knowledge  of  agriculture  or  mechanics,  and  the  school  ought  to 
be  one,  in  my  judgment,  not  merely  for  the  education  of  youths,  but  for 
men  of  middle  age. 

Q.  You  say  they  can  not  use  it  ? 

A.  For  a  term  of  four  years  it  is  too  expensive. 

Q.  The  expenses,  I  understood,  were  very  limited  in  the  college.  It  is 
forty  dollarL  a  year  and  whatever  outside  board  they  may  have  to  pay,  no 


96  E,EroRT  OF  THE  Committee.  [Xc.  18, 

charj^e  for  instruction,  only  for  fuel  and  room,  and  that  is  included  in  the 
forty  dollars  ? 

A.  I  do  not  remember  whatsit  is  now  ;  we  reduced  it. 

Q.  Now,  can  that  charge  be  reduced,  and  if  so  by  what  means,  in  order 
to  brina:  it  more  within  the  means  of  people  of  limited  income  ? 

A.  AVell,  my  dear  sir,  in  answer  to  your  question  I  give  my  opinion, 
which  may  not  be  shared  in  by  the  other  trustees,  and  perhaps  I  had  l^etter 
not  answer  it.  If  I  were  to  answer  you,  I  think  it  can  and  ought  to  be, 
and  1  have  been  informed,  I  do  not  know  whether  all,  every  one,  but  some 
in  the  board  of  trustees  wish  it  done.  We  have  done  away  with  experi- 
mental board  there,  and  I  recommend  a  system  of  clubs,  which  would  re- 
duce the  board  to  about  one  dollar  a  week.  That  plan  might  be  profitably 
adopted  by  that  college.     It  has  plenty  of  room  there  to  do  it. 

Q.  After  all,  that  matter  is  a  matter  of  arrangement  among  the  students 
themselves  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  my  idea  is  that  a  portion  be  given  up  to  that  system  under 
the  general  care  of  the  college.  It  is  so  in  Allegheny  College,  and  they 
have  found  it  very  successful.  It  gets  rid  of  all  this  boarding-house  busi- 
ness. I  think  the  expenses  of  the  college  could  be  reduced  and  that  sur- 
plus dispensed  where  it  is  more  needed.  I  think  my  views  are  entirely 
correct  about  it.  My  idea  is  that  the  gentlemen  hired  could  be  reduced, 
and  there  could  be  some  portion  of  the  annual  expenditure,  enough  saved 
to  cheapen  the  cost  of  that  college,  that  school  for  those  for  whom  it  was 
intended. 

Q.  You  would  save  that  expense  by  reduction  of  the  corps  of  professors. 
Indicate  what  portion. 

A.  Get  rid  of  the  scientific  course  common  to  other  colleges,  if  under 
the  laws  it  could  be.  Now,  I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  act 
of  Congress  in  relation  to  it.  The  act  of  Congress  makes  the  college  an 
agricultural  and  mechanical  college.  It  don't  go  beyond  that.  The  land 
was  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  agricultural  and  me- 
chanical college,  and  only  requires  military  tactics  to  be  taught. 

Q.  Do  you  not  think  the  scientific  course  is  as  appurtenant  to  it  as  the 
mechanical  arts  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  don't  want  to  exclude,  understand,  what  is  practically 
useful. 

Q,  Can  you  suggest  any  other  means  of  reduciag  expenses? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  think  there  has  been  an  unnecessar}' amount  expended 
upon  the  experimental  farms.  I  think  a  practice  that  won't  make  a  farm, 
actually  worth  $20,000,  self-sustaining,  had  better  be  discontinued.  And 
the  farm  in  Chester  count3^  as  I  understand,  before  I  went  into  the  board, 
is  having  an  appropriation  of  $2,000  a  year.  I  may  have  been  misin- 
formed. The  practical  management  of  a  good  farm  for  experiments  in 
agriculture  should  be  self-sustaining,  if  not,  it  had  better  be  abandoned. 

Q.  How  about  the  farm  in  Indiana  county  ?     Is  that  self-sustaining  ? 

A.  I  should  think  not,  sir,  from  my  observation. 

Q.  Is  the  same  true  of  Chester  county  ? 

A.  I  am  speaking  of  Chester. 

Q.  I  thought  you  said  Indiana? 

A.  I  don't  think  it  is  self-sustaining.  The  farm  in  Chester  I  have  been 
upon  and  examined  it. 

Q.  Well,  from  your  knowledge  of  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  laws  relat- 
ing to  this  institution,  the  object  which  created  it,  what  would  3'ou  say 
would  be  the  best  means  for  carrying  into  efiect  the  spirit  and  intent  of 
those  enactments  to  furnish  the  people  with  the  means  of  instruction  and 


Leg.  Doc]  PiiNNSYLVANiA  State  College.  97 

information  on  the  points  intended  by  the  acts  of  Congress  and  the  Legis- 
lature ? 

A.  If  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  as  it  is  now  designated,  is  subject 
to  the  control  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  their  college  should  be  put 
under  the  control  of  a  president  who  should  be  a  practical  agriculturist, 
with  a  thorough  scientific  knowledge  of  chemistry,  botany,  zoology,  and 
entomolog3%  and  it  should  be  a  farmer's  college,  should  be  opened  to  the 
employment  of  students,  and  each  of  them  should  have  compensation  for 
their  services,  and  the 

Q.  Do  you  propose  not  only  to  educate  and  board  them  gratis,  but  also 
pay  them  a  compensation  ? 

A.  Yes,  I  would  pay  them  for  their  labor.  You  did  not  understand  me 
to  say  that.  I  said  the  college  should  give  the  place  for  this  gratis  board. 
The  students  should  be  under  no  charge  for  rooms ;  that  this  boarding 
system  should  be  adopted  which  I  spoke  of  as  the  course  at  Allegheny 
College  at  Meadville.     There  boarding  is  within  the  reach  of  every  one. 

Q.  You  think  the  instruction  and  room  rent,  and  other  incidentals,  ex- 
cepting board,  should  be  gratis? 

A.  1  think  that  a  portion  of  the  $30,^00  should  be  devoted  to  that  pur- 
pose, by  dispensing  with  some  of  the  large  faculty  ;  that  would  certainly 
keep  three  or  four  hundred  students,  and  they  don't  hardly  have  as  many 
dozen  students.     These  views  are  shared  in  by  my  associates. 

Q.  What  prevents  the  disposition  of  this  by  the  board  of  trustees  if  they 
are  agreed  on  this  point,  as  Mr.  Piolette  states  ? 

A.  That  is  a  pretty  hard  question  to  answer.  [Laughter.]  I  should 
probabl}'  want  time  to  consider  and  act.  A  president  has  not  been  selected, 
although  a  committee  was  appointed  to  select  a  president,  and  I  think  he 
has  not  been  selected.  I  believe  that  this  enters  into  the  consideration, 
and  perhaps  I  may  sa}'  that  the  action  and  views  of  this  committee  of  the 
Legislature  is  in  the  minds  of  the  trustees,  and  that  the  disposition  of 
the  trustees  would  be  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people  of  the  State.  I  do  not  think  the  board  of  trustees  want  to  act  in 
defiance  of  the  public  opinion,  as  expressed  to  the  Legislature,  and  I  think 
the  complaint,  originating  from  the  source  that  it  does,  ought  not  to  have 
any  influence  on  the  management  of  this  college,  asserting  that  it  has  not 
given  to  the  experimental  farm  in  Chester  county  money  it  never  ought  to 
have,  and  paying  for  a  superintendent  that  generally  was  not  of  very- 
much  service. 

Q.  Then  you  consider  the  practical  value  of  the  experimental  farms  of 
rather  a  doubtful  question  ? 

A.  Under  the  last  management  it  has  been  a  failure. 

Q.  That  has  reference  to  farms  in  Chester  and  Indiana  counties  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  your  view  of  the  Central  farm,  as  to  its  practical  value  ? 

A.  VVell,  if  I  were  going  to  send  my  son  to  get  good  views  of  practical 
farming,  and  examine  premises,  I  would  send  him  down  to  Colonel  Young's 
farms  rather  than  to  the  Centre  county  farm,  for  they  are  much  better 
managed  than  the  farm  at  the  college. 

Q.  Will  you  suggest  to  this  committee  what  changes  should  be  made  in 
the  management  of  the  Central  farm  ? 

A.  You  want  a  president  of  that  college  who  knows  a  furrow  ;  ought  to 

be  able  to  plow  and  seed,  and  harvest ;  know  the  whole  process  with  suflS- 

cient  knowledge  of  chemistry — I   tell  3'ou  chemistry  is  a  great  help,  it 

comes  to  the  aid  of  the  agriculturist — so  as  to  keep  pace  with  the  wants  of 

7 — Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


98  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  1 8 , 

the  country  and  the  people  of  agriculture  which  have  not  been  reached  or 
understood. 

Q.  You  think  that  the  principal  remedy  lies  in  the  president  ? 

A.  In  the  control  and  business  management  of  that  college  to  make  it  a 
practical  success. 

Q.  I  now  wish  you  would  state,  from  your  observation,  how  the  control 
and  management  of  this  college  has  been  with  reference  to  the  spirit  and 
intent  of  the  acts  of  Congress  and  of  the  Legislature  ;  in  other  words, 
whether  the  object  of  its  creation  has  been  carried  out  honestly  ? 

A.  So  far  as  my  observation  has  enabled  me  to  judge,  there  has  been  an 
honest  desire  of  the  management,  which  is  largely,  as  you  know,  under  the 
control  of  the  executive  committee,  which  is  composed  of  the  president  of 
the  college,  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  selected  members;  their 
sole  desire  has  been  to  make  this  college  to  answer  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  created,  but  they  failed  to  do  it.     We  have  failed  to  do  it. 

Q.  That  failure  rests  with  whom  ? 

A.  With  the  people,  who  ought  to  turn  out  the  board  of  trustees  that 
did  not  do  it,  and  put  in  a  board  that  would  do  it.  That  is  a  fair  answer, 
is  it  not,  Mr.  Newmyer? 

Q.  Yes,  I  suppose  so.  You  think  the  point  you  would  like  to  arrive  at 
can  be  reached  in  a  practical  wa}^  ? 

A.  I  do.  I  consider  myself  every  way  competent  to  take  the  work  of 
the  farm,  but  I  could  not  go  into  the  laboratory.  I  could  not  make 
analyses.  I  have  not  sufficient  knowledge  of  entomology  and  zoologj'  to 
fill  such  a  place ;  but  there  are  men  who  have  combined  all,  and  it  is  in  the 
care  of  such  persons  that  the  present  management  of  that  school  ought 
to  be. 

By  the  chairman  : 

Q,  In  the  control  of  persons  with  a  practical  knowledge  of  farming, 
such  as  you  have  ? 

A .  I  would  not  be  competent  to  fill  the  place.     I  could  not  go  into  the 
laboratory.     I  never  worked  there. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer: 

Q.  Is  it  not  easy  to  find  such  a  man  ? 

A.  I  think  so.  I  thought  we  had  such  a  man  when  the  committee  se- 
lected Dr.  Shortlidge.  Greneral  Beaver  and  Judge  Orvis  were  the  commit- 
tee, and  they  were  confident  they  had  got  that  sort  of  a  man,  but  what- 
ever Dr.  Shortlidge's  attainments  were  he  lacked  the  power  to  govern. 

Q.  Have  you  made  any  subsequent  efforts  to  discoA^er  that  man  ? 

A.  I  have  been  talking  around. 

Q.  Who  is  3'our  man  ? 

A.  I  will  tell  Beaver  that. 

Q.  We  might  recommend  him. 

A.  Now,  I  will  just  explain  my  views,  gentlemen,  I  understand  you 
are  going  to  pass  on  this  matter — 

Q.  We  want  to  find  out  how  the  matter  can  be  reached. 

A.  We  have  plenty  of  other  colleges  turning  out  physicians  and  doctors 
of  divinity.  We  want  horse  and  cow  doctors.  We  want  men  to  take  care 
of  animals  and  to  know  how  to  doctor  their  diseases.  A  good  deal  of  the 
expense  of  that  college  should  be  reduced,  I  argue,  and  have  so  stated. 
And  on  the  Chester  county  farm  1  could  find  a  man,  with  some  exertion, 
whose  salary  should  be  $6U0,  and  if  he  did  not  earn  enough  on  the  farm  I 
would  pay  it  gratuitously  myself;  and  yet  I  could  not  do  that.  There 
were  complications  in  which  it  could  not  be  reached.  Now,  there  ought 
to  be  a  course  of  lectures  after  cornplanting  and  in  the  winter,  available 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  99 

for  men  in  hupable  and  adult  life,  whom  we  ought  to  have  schooled  in  the 
management  of  farms  as  laborers.  There  is  where  we  suffer  most,  because 
we  have  not  well  skilled  labor. 

Q.  Does  not  this  college  furnish  facilities  for  instruction  upon  this  point  ? 
Have  jou  not  a  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  i  hope  a  very  good  one.  I  do  not  know  him  familiarly — what  his 
character  is. 

Q.  State  whether  or  not  there  has  been  any  progress  in  the  attainmt^nt 
of  the  end  in  view. 

A.  I  think  there  has. 

Q.  Do  you  know,  Mr.  Piolette,  of  an  effort  being  made  to  carry  into 
effect  the  views  you  have  just  expressed  on  the  part  of  any  former  admin- 
istration of  the  college  ? 

A.  I  think  Dr.  Calder  got  in*;o  some  trouble  on  that  head.  I  tell  you 
now  I  discovered  one  thing  there — I  discovered  tUat  the  president — if  I 
was  going  to  get  a  man  in  that  1  thought  might  work  in  thpt  college — 
would  probably  encounter  some  opposition  from  the  board  of  professors  ; 
and  the  trouble  is  the  facalty  all  want  to  be  president,  I  guess,  and  don't 
think  each  other  very  well  qualified  for  it. 

Q.  You  have  spoken,  Mr.  Piolette,  of  the  desirability  of  a  special  course 
of  instruction  for  students  of  mature  years;  is  there  not  a  course  provided 
for? 

A.  I  think  there  is ;  we  did  have  a  course  of  lectures. 

Q.  Then  really  your  views  upon  that  subject  have  been  adopted  ? 

A.  I  think  on  this  point  they  have  been.  My  idea  was  more  with  refer- 
ence to  3'oung  men,  with  whatever  attainments  he  has,  that  he  might  be 
put  upon  any  course  of  study  he  should  select,  and  might  stay  there  what- 
ever time  he  had  a  mind  to,  and  go  away  graded  from  that.  But  these  are 
crude  views  of  mine. 
By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  There  has  been  some  progress  made  in  that  college  ? 

A.  I  know  it  is  the  sincere  desire  on  the  part  of  the  president  and  the 
board  of  trustees,  and  all  who  associate  with  me ;  I  discovered  nothing  but 
a  sincere  desire  to  come  up  to  the  standard  of  the  acts  of  Congress  and 
the  State  Legislature. 

By  Mr.  >  ewmyer  :  ^ 

Q.  (Referring  to  the  subject  above  on  which  he  has  been  examining  wit- 
ness.) You  would  find  some  very  considerable  difficulty  getting  at  that 
thing  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  require  to  remodel  the  system. 

Q.  And  inaugurate  an  entirel}'  experimental  one ;  what  do  you  say,  Mr. 
Piolette  ? 

A.  Perhaps  I  have  said  enough.  I  give  it  my  time  and  go  there  at  my 
own  expense.  I  believe  that  if  a  portion  of  this  $30,000  expended  in  the 
management  of  this  institution  could  be  donated  to  enable  intelligent  men 
without  means  to  go  there  and  return,  and  have  a  portion  of  their  expenses 
paid — 

By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  You  mean  directors  ? 

A.  Trustees  and  delegates  who  are  elected,  (at  least  some  portion  of  it,) 
the  money  would  go  to  a  good  account. 

Q.  Could  a  portion  of  that  be  expended  in  that  way  ?  1  infer,  from  the 
fact  that  a  portion  of  that  $3i',000  cannot  be  appropriated  to  make  repairs 
in  the  building,  on  that  account  perhaps  it  could  not  be  used  for  the  pay- 
ment of  expenses  of  the  trustees  ? 


100  Report  of  the  Committee,  [No.  18, 

A..  The  board  of  trustees  themselves  are  officers,  and  the  faculty  cannot 
manage  the  college  without  them.  May  be  I  am  wrong  about  it.  But  I 
do  know  that  there  is  a  college  we  have  close  by  me.  I  go  frequently  to 
Cornell  University.  I  am  very  well  acquainted  with  the  president  and 
faculty,  and  I  know  they  are  making  substantial  progress  in  .educating  a 
class  of  men  with  a  knowledge  of  the  structure  and  the  diseases  of  the 
higher  forms  of  animals. 

Q.  They  had  a  much  larger  fund  to  go  on  ? 

A.  Yes,  they  have,  but  they  did  not  have  much  more  when  they  started. 
But  Mr.  Cornell  made  the  wisest  use  of  the  lands  that  were  donated  by  the 
National  Government,  under  the  direction  of  the  trustees  to  whom  it  was 
confided.  These  lands  are  now  bringing  eighteen  and  twenty-four  dollars 
an  acre. 

Q.  Do  you  know  the  price  Mr.  Cornell  took  these  lands  at  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know. 

Q.  You  say  you  visi\,  Cornell  University.  Give  us  some  idea  of  the 
course. 

A.  A  man  sometimes  says  too  much.  I  will  write  you  my  views  some 
time.  I  will  say  anything  I  can  that  will  build  up  this  agricultural  col- 
lege. I  stick  to  the  old  name.  I  think  General  Beaver  will  be  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  witnesses  called  before  you  as  to  giving  an  idea  of  what  you 
ought  to  do.  His  heart  is  in  this  thing.  These  old  fellows  get  a  good  deal 
of  hold  on  him.  That  is  because  of  long  association.  I  think  there  is  a 
surplus  of  faculty  and  teachers — 

Q.  I  would  like  to  hear  a  little  more  in  detail  about  the  experimental 
farm  in  Chester  county. 

A.  What  I  wish  to  remark  is  that  an  experimental  farm  so  managed  as 
not  to  pay  its  expenses  ought  to  be  discontinued.     It  is  of  no  practical 
benefit  to  the  farming  community. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Do  you  think  the  experimental  farm  divided  up  into  territories,  into 
a  series  of  plots,  could  be  carried  on  and  made  to  pay  expenses  ? 

A.  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  necessary  or  meets  the  requirements  of  the 
agricultural  community  in  its  present  advanced  state.  Now,  you  have  five 
acres  or  ten  acres  of  land  upon  which  you  are  going  to  put  five  or  ten 
varieties  of  wheat.  I  would  not  plow  them  up  into  little  beds  here  and 
little  beds  there  and  have  a  grass  border  between  each  one,  but  I  would 
fertilize  the  whole,  pulverize  tlie  surface,  make  such  preparation  as  I  do  on 
my  own  farm.  Next  I  would  get  four  or  five  kinds  of  grain,  and  go  upon 
this  prepared  farm  and  sow  these  varieties,  and  have  sticks  there  to  mark 
it,  and  the  next  kind  of  wheat  along  side  of  it.  Is  there  anything  to  pre- 
vent me  gathering  that  and  weighing  it  and  ascertaining  the  production  ? 

Q.  You  think  the  results  of  that  experimental  farm  do  not  justify  the 
expense  ? 

A.  I  do. 

Q.  In  regard  to  the  management  of  this  college,  how  many  trustees  are 
there  ? 

A.  Now,  Mr.  Hamilton  can  give  you  that  much  quicker  than  I  can. 
There  are  seven  or  nine — there  are  fifteen. 

Q.  Do  you  have  any  regular  times  for  meeting  ? 

A.  Yes.  sir. 

Q.  What  are  they  ? 

A.  Annual  meetings  and  monthly  meetings  or  quarterly  meetings  at  the 
call  of  the  president. 

Mr.  Hamilton  reads  the  list  of  persons  who  are  trustees,  as  follows  : 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  101 

Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  president  col- 
lege faculty,  president  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society.  Secretarj^  of  In- 
ternal Affairs,  Auditor  General,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  pres- 
ident of  Franklin  Institute,  are  all  ex-officio  members  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees. The  other  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  number  fifteen,  but  three 
of  these  are  elected  by  the  alumni  of  the  college,  and  the  rest  by  the  agri- 
cultural and  mechanic  societies  of  the  State. 
Q.  You  meet  once  a  year,  or  how  often  ? 

A.  (Mr.  Piolette.)  There  is  an  annual  meeting  and  a  semi-annual  meet- 
ing.    Is  there  not  two  meetings  a  year  ? 

Mr.  Hamilton.  The  board  of  trustees  meet  twice  a  year,  once  at  Har- 
risburg  and  once  at  the  college.  If  special  meetings  are  to  be  held,  the^- 
are  designated  by  the  semi-annual  meetings,  or  called  by  the  president  and 
secretary. 

Q.  What  is  the  attendance  at  these  meetings  ? 

A.  (Mr.  Piolette.)     General,  when  I  have  been  there.     Pretty  general 
attendance  since  I  have  been  in  the  board. 
Q.  Does  Governor  Ho3't-ever  attend  ? 
A.  I  think  not. 
Q.  Mr.  Dunkle  ? 
A.  I  think  not. 
Q.  Mr.  Quay  ? 
A.  I  have  not  met  him. 

Q.  The  president  of  the  Franklin  Institute?     He  is  a  member  ex-officio. 

A..  I  don't  think  1  ever  met  him  there.     Starkweather  has  been  there 

punctually.     General  Beaver  always  takes  us  up  there.     We  are  well  taken 

care  of.     When  we  go  down  here  we  pay  our  own  bills,  or  we  do  not  get 

in  a  second  time  at  the  hotels.     I  think  you  can  do  a  great  deal  of  good 

By  Mr.  Hall : 
Q.  We  are  willing  to  do  our  share,  but  we  hardly  know  how  to  get  at  it. 

By  the  chairman  : 
Q.  You  are  an  officer  of  a  society  or  institution  ? 
A.  I  am  a  member  of  the  grangers. 

Q.  Of  course  you  know  pretty  near  what  they  want.  On  page  sixteen  of 
volume  five,  legislative  document,  session  of  1878  and  1879,  it  appears  a 
committee  had  been  appointed  by  the  grangers,  and  a  report  made  at  a 
meeting  of  the  State  grange,  held  at  Bellefonte,  December  10,  1878,  ex- 
pressing views  of  the  patrons  of  husbandry,  as  follows  :  ''  The  following 
report  was  made  to,  and  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Pennsylvania  State 
grange  of  the  patrons  of  husbandry,  at  Bellefonte,  December  10,  1»78  : 

"  On  the  19th  of  September,  the  committeea  ppointed  at  the  last  annual 
session  of  the  State  grange  to  visit  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  met, 
and,  having  completed  their  labors,  as  far  as  possible  in  the  short  time 
spent  on  the  college  grounds,  we  submit  to  you  the  following  as  the  result 
of  our  observations  : 

"  The  college  is  situated  in  Centre  county,  twelve  miles  south-west  of 
Bellefonte,  in  one  of  the  richest  agricultural  valleys  in  the  State.  It  is  a 
large  and  commodious  five-story  building,  constructed  of  limestone,  and 
beautifully  located,  and  surrounded  by  extensive  grounds,  fine  out-build- 
ings, and  grand  picturesque  valley'  and  mountain  scenery. 

"  The  college  has  been  in  successful  operation  for  a  number  of  years, 
having  been  organized  under  the  auspices  of  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Agricultural  Society,  and  incorporated  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  in  1854. 
It  was  then  styled  the  Farmers'  High  School.'  In  1862,  the  name  was 
changed  to  '  The  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania.'     Subsequently, 


102  ■  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

in  18Y4,  its  name  was  again  changed  to  '  The  Pennsylvania  State  College,' 
Having,  to  a  great  extent,  passed  under  national  control,  by  an  act  of 
Congress,  enlarging  and  extending  its  educational  scope,  and  granting  it 
an  amount  of  land  scrip,  from  the  investment  of  which  the  institution 
realizes  thirty  thousand  dollars  annually,  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  profes- 
sors' salaries  and  contingent  expenses.  Consequently,  there  are  no  charges 
made  for  instruction. 

"  The  farm  consists  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  one  hundred  of  which 
is  devoted  to  experimental  farming,  and  the  remainder  to  ordinary  agri- 
cultural purposes,  all  of  which  is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  evidencing 
the  superior  ability  of  the  distinguished  professor  under  whose  supervision 
it  has  been  placed. 

''  The  college  proper  is  prepared  and  has  all  the  facilities  for  imparting 
instruction  in  all  the  higher  branches  of  learning,  but  is  more  especially 
adapted  for  teaching  agriculture,  both  as  an  art  and  science.  The  institu- 
tion is  under  the  charge  of  twelve  professors,  with  the  Reverend  James 
Calder,  D.  D.,  as  principal.  Though  our  sta}^  at  the  school  was  short,  we 
were  satisfied  that  the  professors  were  all  men  of  high  literary  and  scien- 
tific acquirements ;  of  pure  and  unblemished  moral  character,  gentlemanly 
in  their  deportment,  courteous  and  obliging  to  strangers,  and  in  every  way 
eminently  qualified  to  fill  the  respective  positions  assigned  them,  and  dis- 
chance  efficiently  the  onerous  duties  incumbent  upon  them. 

"  This,  though  excelled  by  no  institution  of  learning  in  its  method  of  im- 
parting instruction  in  the  classical  and  scientific  branches  of  education,  is 
yet  more  especiallj'  the  farmer^s  school.  His  hard-earned  substance  has 
contributed  largely  to  make  it  what  it  is,  and  it  is  now  his  privilege  to 
enjoy  its  inestimable  benefits.  Here  sons  and  daughters  of  the  tillers  of 
the  soil  can  be  educated  at  a  cost  little  above  home  expenses ;  and  when 
they  have  passed  successfully  the  several  degrees,  and  graduated,  they  have 
then  not  only  acquired  a  thorough  and  complete  knowledge  of  practical 
and  scientific  agriculture,  but  are  eminently  fitted  by  their  superior  educa- 
tion to  fill  any  of  the  various  stations  of  life.  This  institution  being 
located  in  a  rural  district,  its  students  are  comparatively  free  from  the 
contaminating  influences  which  entrap  and  ruin  so  many  of  the  youth  of 
our  cities  and  large  towns ;  and  being  under  the  immediate  control  of  pre- 
ceptors of  high  Christian  attainments,  their  morals  are  as  secure  as  they 
can  be  within  the  sacred  precincts  of  their  own  homes. 

"  The  instruction  imparted  here  seems  to  be  of  a  solid  nature.  The  female 
student  is  prepared  for  a  matron  instead  of  a  parlor  ornament.  The  male 
student  is  fitted  to  be  a  man  instead  of  a  fashionable  loafer. 

"  We  recommend  this  institution  to  the  patronage  of  all,  and  especially 
the  farmers  throughout  the  country.  And  we  feel  safe  in  salving  that  any- 
thing which  the  grange  might  do  to  promote  its  success,  would  be  a  step 
in  the  right  direction.  We  deem  it  advisable  that  the  State  grange  should 
assume  a  supervisory  control  over  the  college  as  far  as  is  consistent  with 
the  chartered  rights  and  privileges  of  others  ;  and  though  this  is  the  first 
time  it  has  been  visited  by  a  committee  of  patrons  of  husbandr}^,  _yet  it 
should  not  bQ  the  last  time,  but  the  State  grange  should  appoint  a  com- 
mittee, composed  of  persons  of  the  highest  agricultural  and  literary 
acquirements,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  visit  the  school  at  least  annually, 
and  oftener  if  practicable. 

"  It  is  pleasing  to  contemplate  this  one  phase  of  modern  civilization,  viz  : 
that  the  farmer,  once  deemed  incapable  of  acquiring  an  education,  it  was 
thought  that  knowledge  lay  beyond  the  reach  of  one  in  so  humble  a  situa- 
tion, can  now,  by  the  aid  of  this  institution,  be  brought  into  contact  with 


Leg.  Doc"!  Pennsylvania  Istate  College.  103 

the  great  minds  of  the  past  and  present,  whose  precepts  and  example  will 
elevate  him  to  a  position  of  social  equality,  and  enable  him  to  exercise 
intelligently'  the  rights  of  citizenship,  which  alone  can  preserve  the  cher- 
ished institutions  of  our  country." 

A.  1  was  then  master  of  the  State  grange. 

Q.  You  think  that  a  pretty  general  expression  of  their  sentiments  ? 

A.  My  recollection  is,  it  is,  sir.  I  want  to  say  another  thing  on  the 
question  of  this  report  at  Bellefonte,  respecting  the  views  of  this  order — 
the  members  of  this  order.  The  former  president,  Mr.  Calder,  while  act- 
ing as  president,  joined  the  order  of  the  patrons  of  husbandrj^  made 
application  to  the  local  chairman,  and  was  considered  by  them  ineligible. 
The  question  was  referred  to  me  as  master,  and  I  gave  directions  that  he 
was  eligible — the  head  of  an  agricultural  college  was  eligible.  If  he  was 
not  I  did  not  know  who  was.  Mr.  Calder  was  under  the  impression  that 
trouble  came  by  that  step  of  his,  and  I  was  under  the — it  was  represented 
to  me,  and  as  a  matter,  of  course,  I  responded  to  it.  I  attended  a  meeting 
here.  Well,  it  happened  that  it  was  a  mistake — turning  out  of  Mr.  Calder 
— it  was  a  mistake.  Mr.  Calder  had  applied  to  the  board  of  trustees  to 
know  whether  he  should.  He  thought,  being  (resident,  it  would  bring 
him  in  connection  with  the  farmers  of  the  State,  and  he  went  over  the 
State  and  tried  to  interest  them,  and  they  were  interested.  But  we 
thought  there  was  a  disposition  of  the  college  to  make  its  management 
suit  the  views  of  the  farmers,  particularly  those  in  the  organization.  It 
is  simply  impossible  for  a  majority  of  the  patrons  of  husbandry'  to  send 
their  sons  to  college  for  three  years,  but  some  of  them  can  six  months. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Do  not  the  members  of  the  patrons  of  husbandry  send  their  boys  to 
Yale  and  Harvard,  in  preference  to  this  agricultural  college  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Anything  antagonistic  between  this  college  and  the  patrons  of  hus- 
bandry ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  i  presume  you  are  aware  of  the  proposition  to  have  an  agricultural 
paper  established  in  connection  with  this  school  ? 

A.  I  believe  there  fs  one. 

Q.  I  would  like  to  have  3'our  views. 

A.  I  consider  this  obligatory  under  the  act  of  Congress,  and  it  has  been 
started  within  a  year  or  two. 

Q.  I  would  like  to  know  what  the  experience  of  the  trustees  are — whether 
the  attendance,  generally-  made  by  the  trustees,  is  such  as  would  lead  you 
to  believe  there  is  unanimity  of  sentiment  in  relation  to  the  success  of  the 
institution  ? 

A.  1  stated,  I  believed,  sir,  that  it  is  the  sincere  desire  of  the  board  of 
trustees  to  adopt  a  course  which  will  answer  the  purpose  under  which  the 
grant  was  made  b}^  the  general  government.  I  think  a  majority  of  them 
have  a  sincere  desire  to  make  and  establish  an  agricultural  and  mechanical 
college,  rather  than  try  to  compete  with  the  other  colleges  of  the  country. 

S.  W.  Starkweather,  sworn  : 

B}'  Mr.  Newmyer : 
Q.     Mr.  Starkweather,  are  you  in  any  manner  connected  with  the  man- 
agement of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  ? 
A.  I  am  a  trustee. 


104  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No,  18, 

Q.  For  how  lonp^  have  you  occupied  that  position  ? 

A.  Since  the  latter  part  of  June  in  1877. 

Q.  From  your  opportunity  of  observation,  would  you  be  kind  enough 
to  inform  this  committee  what  your  views  are  as  to  the  general  manage- 
ment, conduct,  and  control  of  the  Central,  Eastern,  and  Western  farms 
connected  with  the  State  College  ? 

A.  I  am  hardly  competent  to  impart  any  information  that  would  be 
desirable  to  the  committee,  on  account  of  not  being  personally  acquainted 
with  the  operations  upon  the  Eastern  and  Western  farms.  I  never  have 
been  on  them,  and  therefore  can  only  speak  from  the  reports  as  they  came 
to  the  board  of  trustees,  and  in  the  general  discussion  of  matters  apper- 
taining to  these  farms  at  such  times.  My  opinion  would  be  that  they  are 
almost  a  failure,  so  far  as  being  really  a  source  of  benefit  to  the  college, 
and  this  is  on  account  of  not  being  managed  or  having  at  their  head  the 
right  kind  of  a  man  for  such  position. 

Q.  Have  you  sufficient  funds  at  your  command  to  make  them  success- 
ful? 

A.  Well,  we  have  no  funds  at  our  command,  no  more  than  what  is  al- 
ready expended  from  year  to  year.     Every  cent  is  expended. 

Q.  In  other  words,  then,  can  you  with  the  expenditures  and  with  a 
different  management,  in  your  opinion,  make  these  experimental  farms  a 
practical  success  ? 

A.  Not  being  a  farmer,  I  perhaps  cannot  speak  as  intelligently  on  that 
as  Mr,  Piolette,  who  is  a  practical  farmer;  but,  judging  from  what  others 
say,  and  what  he  says  he  could  do  by  the  selection  of  men  that  he  could 
make,  at  a  certain  salary,  why,  it  would  seem  that  it  could  be  done.  I 
should  think  there  has  been  a  mistake  in  the  selection  of  the  men  who 
were  upon  these  farms ;  consequently  there  would  be  a  want  of  knowledge 
in  the  trustees  or  those  who  made  the  selection,  what  kind  of  a  man  should 
be  there ;  and,  another  thing,  thei'e  is  a  difficulty  for  the  college  board  of 
trustees  to  manage  that  kind  of  business  when  it  is  so  far  away  from  us  as 
it  is. 

Q.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  work  and  operations  of  the  Central  farm  ? 

A.  I  have  been  there  regularly  and  I  should  think  that  much  more  had 
been  done  there,  by  way  of  experiments  for  obtaining  useful  knowledge, 
than  what  there  has  upon  the  other  farms, 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  conduct  in  the  general  management  of 
that  farm  and  the  college,  from  your  own  observation  ? 

A.  You  do  not  restrict  that  to  pi'actical  farming  ;  and,  as  to  the  college 
part,  you  refer  to  its  original  object  and  design  ? 

Q.  I  meaa  in  a  general  sense. 

A.  As  a  school  for  learning  I  have  a  very  exalted  opinion  of  the  man- 
agement and  workings,  in  a  scholastic  sense  ;  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
a  knowledge  of  science,  such  as  is  taught  in  schools  and  colleges,  my 
opinion  is  that  it  is  hardly  excelled  in  any  of  our  large  schools  or  colleges. 
Had  I  a  son  to  educate  in  the  branches  taught  I  would  send  him  there  in 
preference  to  any  one  I  know  of. 

Q.  You  are  familiar  with  the  acts  of  Congress  and  the  acts  of  Assembly. 
How  far  has  the  object  and  intent  of  these  acts  been  complied  with  in  the 
management  and  general  operations  of  this  college  ? 

A.  The  main  object  in  view  always  seemed  to  be  a  strict  conformity  to 
that,  unless  I  may  say  that  the  introduction  into  the  college  of  scientific 
pursuits  or  studies  was  not  the  original  intention.  That  would  be  a  de- 
flection probably  from  the  original  meaning. 

Q.  Or  rather  an  enlargement  of  it  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  105 

A.  Yes  sir  ;  an  enlargement  of  it.  Yes,  sir,  I  prefer  that  word.  I  con- 
sider that  it  has  a  very  able  corps  of  professors,  men  who  thoroughly  un- 
derstand the  sciences  that  they  are  teaching. 

Q.  Can  you  point  out  to  us  any  defect  in  the  present  control  and  general 
management,  and  suggest  to  us  any  practical  remedy'  ? 

A.  Well,  in  reference  to  carrying  out  more  fully  the  original  design  of 
the  institution,  a  defect  would  be  in  the  want  of  a  president  thoroughl}'  ac- 
quainted with  farming  and  mechanic  pursuits.  So  far  as  the  general  man- 
agen  ent  in  the  students  there  are  concerned,  as  I  have  already  stated,  I 
consider  them  as  well  performed  as  you  will  find  anywhere ;  but  I  believe 
that  if  there  could  be  at  the  head  of  that  institution  a  president  who  really 
felt  thoroughly  interested  in  making  farming  and  mechanics  a  source  of 
importance  to  the  young  rising  youth  of  the  State,  that  certainly  would  be 
a  very  desirable  object  to  attain.  Since  my  acquaintance,  my  connection 
with  it,  I  think  that  there  has  been  a  very  great  want  of  that. 

Q.  That  position,  I  understand  by  the  circular,  is  now  vacant  ? 

A.  It  is  or  has  been. 

Q.  What  effort  has  been  made  to  fill  the  position  with  a  man  correspond- 
ing to  the  requirements  ? 

A.  A  committee  was  appointed  a  year  ago  last  summer,  the  time  Mr. 
Shortlidge  left,  to  make  inquiry  and  ascertain  where  a  man  could  be  found. 
I  was  on  that  committee,  and  I  have  myself  taken  all  the  pains  within  my 
power,  when  away  from  home  and  about  home,  and  when  among  people 
from  other  places,  but  1  have  not  myself  been  able  to  hear  of  the  person 
quite  equal  to  fill  that  place. 

Q.  Then,  as  I  understand  you,  from  your  efforts  to  find  the  man,  it  is  no 
easy  matter  to  discover  him  ? 

A.  That  is  it.  It  is  a  very  important  position.  There  are  few  men  of 
culture  and  high  education  that  ha^e  ever  given  practical  attention  to  the 
details  of  farming  and  mechanics.     It  is  difficult  to  find  them, 

Q.  Do  3'ou  know,  Mr.  Starkweather,  of  any  inconsistency  or  neglect  of 
duty,  or  want  of  fidelity'  on  the  part  of  any  officer  connected  with  the  col- 
lege ? 

A.  I  do  not. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  there  has  been  an  honest  and  sincere  endeavor,  on  the 
part  of  those  connected  with  it,  to  carrj-  into  effect  the  spirit  and  purpose 
of  its  organization  ? 

A.  In  answer  to  that,  I  shall  have  to  say,  I  think  so  far  as  I  know, 
on  the  part  of  the  presidents  with  whom  I  have  been  acqurinted,  that 
there  has  not  always  been  that  desire  for  it  that  there  was  at  one  time ;  but 
a  desire  to  rather  get  away  from  the  agricultural  and  mechanic  part  of  it, 
and  to  work  it  up  to  the  standard,  more  upon  the  principle  of  other  literar3' 
colleges  as  Yale,  Harvard,  Princeton,  &c.  That  would  be  the  only  point 
where  I  think  there  may  have  been  any  want  of  desire  to  do  it. 

Q.  Is  that  true,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  the  present  management  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  do  not  think  it  applies  at  all  to  the  present  management, 
or  any  professor  that  is  now  there.  I  have  direct  reference  to  those  while 
acting  as  president — those  who  have  been  president  since  I  was  a  trustee. 

Q.  Difference  of  views  from  what  it  ought  to  be  ? 

A.  I  only  spoke  in  reference  to  business  matters  of  the  college. 

Q.  You  do  not  allege  any  disinterestedness  now  there  ? 

A.  No  ;  far  from  it. 

Q.  Difference  in  views  as  to  what  ought  to  be  the  curriculum  ? 

A.  That  is  all.  I  think,  to  come  down  to  the  point,  the  president  would 
have  preferred  to  have  it  of  a  purely  literary  nature. 


106  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  charge  or  complaint  made  against  the  manage- 
ment of  the  college  ? 

A.  Nothing  more,  Mr.  Newmyer,  than  what  I  see  in  the  newspapers. 

Q.  You  have  traced  it  to  no  direct  or  reliable  source  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  do  not  think  I  have,  so  far.  As  far  as  my  knowledge  is 
concerned,  I  never  heard  of  any  specific  charge,  if  that  is  what  you  mean, 
from  the  outside  people. 

Q.  Anywhere  ? 

A.  Well,  I  have  to  say  that  the  trustees  considered  Dr.  Shortlidge 

Q.  Oh,  well,  I  do  not  want  you  to  speak  about  that.  I  mean  no  public 
complaint.  How  do  you  account  for  the  comparatively  small  number  of 
graduates  from  the  institution — why  the  advantages  are  not  more  generally 
accepted  b}^  the  people  ? 

A.  Well,  of  course  I  cannot  give  the  reasons  of  other  people,  but  since 
my  acquaintance  with  the  college,  the  first  objection  to  it  is  its  distance 
from  railroad  travel.  At  the  present  day  twelve  miles  is  a  good  ways  from 
home  to  go  in  a  wagon,  and  that  I  have  always  thought  was  the  reason  for  the 
comparatively  small  attendance  at  the  college.  And  I  have  thought,  when 
I  sometimes  heard  gentlemen  saying  that  it  was  not  fulfilling  the  purposes 
for  which  it  was  designed,  I  could  think  of  no  other  reason  than  that  the 
fault  certainly  lay  with  the  agricultural  people  of  the  State ;  that  they  did 
not  sufficiently  appreciate  all  the  importance  of  such  a  school.  This  I 
judged  from  the  small  representation  there  is,  at  the  annual  meetings,  from 
the  agricultural  societies,  who  were  privileged  to  send  three  delegates  from 
each  agricultural  society,  and  also  from  the  mechanical  class.  These  so- 
cieties used  to  represent  their  membership.  It  indicates  that  there  is  a 
want  of  interest,  as  Mr.  Piolette  says.  It  is  certainly  within,  the  manage- 
ment of  it,  wholly  within  the  province  of  the  agricultural  and  mechanical 
societies  of  the  State,  because  the  delegates  they  send  there  have  the  ex- 
clusive control  in  the  election  of  trustees. 

Q.  Can  you  suggest  anything  by  which  the  advantages  of  this  college 
can  be  brought  more  directly  to  the  notice  of  the  people,  other  than  what 
you  have  already  mentioned  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  that  I  can,  Mr.  Newmyer. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 


Met  at  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 

Gabriel  Hiester,  affirmed : 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 
Q.  State  what  your  official  position  is  in  connection  with  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  College. 

A.  I  am  a  trustee.     I  was  elected  by  the  alumni. 

Q.  When  were  you  elected  ? 

A.  In  June,  18t9, 

Q.  Are  you  a  graduate  of  the  college  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  In  what  course  of  study  ? 

A.  Agricultural  course. 

Q.  How  many  years  were  you  in  attendance  at  the  State  College  ? 

A.  Two  and  one  half  years.     I  entered  the  sophomore  class. 

Q.  What  is  your  occupation  now  ? 

A.  Farming. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  Coh.eqe.  107 

Q.  You  reside  here  in  Dauphin  county  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  right  close  to  the  town. 

Q.  State  whether,  or  not,  Mr.  Hiester,  the  Pennsjlvania  State  College 
affords  the  proper  instruction  in  the  branches  appertaining  to  the  science 
of  agriculture,  proper  facilities,  and  proper  instruction  pertaining  to  the 
science  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  Well,  i  think  it  does  to  a  certain  extent. 

Q.  Well,  in  what,  if  anything,  is  it  deficient  ? 

A.  Well,  I  think,  it  cauld  only  be  met  b>-  the  expenditure  of  more 
money  ;  that,  as  far  as  we  have  had  the  means,  I  think  the  faculty  and  the 
trustees  haye  done  all  that  is  in  their  power. 

Q.  Then  there  is  a  lack  of  funds  't 

A.  A  lack  of  funds  to  carry  on  the  experimental  farms  as  they  should 
be,  and  in  that  it  is  deficient. 

Q.  So  far  as  the  theoretical  instruction  in  the  branches  appertaining  to 
the  science  of  agriculture  is  concerned  is  it  properly  equipped,  and  does  it 
afford  the  facilities  for  the  theoretical  instruction  and  the  practical  applica- 
tion ? 

A.  I  think  it  does. 

Q.  Does  it  afford  instruction  in  the  branches  pertaining  to  the  mechanic 
arts? 

A.  It  does.  The  work  shops  are  not  finished  yet,  they  are  only  com- 
menced.    They  have  no  funds  to  finish  them  at  present. 

Q.  Does  it  teach  all  branches  pretaining  to  the  science  of  mechanics  ? 

A.  All  branches  relating  to  the  mechanic  arts.  So  far  as  that  is  con- 
cerned there  is  no  deficiency,  but  in  the  practical  application,  in  shops  and 
on  experimental  farms  there  is,  and  I  think  the  cause  of  that  is  the  want 
of  means.  I  cannot  think  that  an  experimental  farm  can  be  made  self- 
sustaining.  I  believe  that  to  show  experiments  is  to  illustrate  to  others 
what  I  know.  I  believe  that  you  cannot  make  that  kind  of  a  farm  self- 
sustaining.  I  go  to  the  school  to  ascertain  knowledge  for  myself  and 
others,  and  cannot  tell  before  hand  what  profit  is  in  that.  That  is  just 
what  we  want  to  find  out.  I  do  not  care  what  Colonel  Piolette  thinks, 
although  he  is  a  much  older  man  and  a  much  more  experienced  man  than 
I  am. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  in  all  experiments,  whether  in  agriculture  or  other 
pursuits,  one  must  count  sometimes  on  failure  ? 

A.  It  has  been  so  in  my  own  personal  experience.  I  try  a  good  many 
things  that  are  a  loss. 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  money  and  labor  expended  on  these  experi- 
ments was  money  wasted  ? 

A.  Not  by  a  good  deal. 

Q.  What  advantage  would  be  gained  by  means  of  these  experiments  ? 

A.  They  would  increase  knowledge.  That  is  what  they  were  intended 
for. 

Q.  So  money  expended  on  experiments,  which  proved  to  be  failures,  was 
not  money  lost  ? 

A.  Xot  always.  Experiments  not  conducted  in  the  right  form  may  be 
of  no  value  to  any  one. 

Q.  Is  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  equipped  with  a  chemical  labora- 
tory sufficient  to  teach  the  science  of  chemistry  as  applied  to  agriculture  ? 

A.  I  am  not  chemist  enough  to  bslj  how  perfect  these  laboratories  are 
or  what  they  should  be,  but  I  think  they  are  sufficient. 

Q.  You  are  familiar  with  the  agriculture  course  of  instruction  as  laid 
down  in  the  catalogue  of  the  State  College.     Is  there  anything  in  it  that 


108  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

could  be  eliminated  so  as  to  make  the  course  of  instruction  less  irksome  to 
the  student,  and  could  it  be  shortened  so  as  to  make  it  less  expensive  ? 

A.  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  an  advantage  to  shorten  a  course  or  to  get 
cheap  education.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  cheap  education.  I  think  a  long 
course  better,  whether  in  agriculture  or  other  departments  My  idea  is 
that  we  want  to  give  the  most  thorough  education  in  the  different  depart- 
ments, and  you  cannot  give  the  most  thorough  and  cheapest  at  the  same 
time. 

Q.  There  is  nothing  taught  in  any  of  the  branches  in  the  agricultural 
course  that  could  or  ought  to  be  eliminated  from  that  course  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  that,  because  I  have  not  looked  over  the  list  of  studies 
carefull3^     I  have  not  examined  that. 

Q.  Here  is  a  list,  Mr.  Hiester,  of  the  present  preparatory  course.  (Shown 
to  witness.) 

A.  I  would  not  like  to  pass  on  that  just  by  glancing  over  it.  Well,  this 
I  may  just  say,  that  this  schedule  was  prepared  by  the  faculty,  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  board  of  trustees,  and  there  was  a  committee  from  the  board, 
a  joint  committee  appointed — I  think  of  three  members  of  the  board  and 
three  members  of  the  faculty — to  revise  the  course  of  study,  and  I  thought 
at  the  time  that  they  h'ad  made  a  very  good  schedule,  and  I  believe  I  would 
suggest  no  change  in  it. 

Q.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  act  of  Congress  donating  the  land  scrip  to 
this  and  other  State  colleges,  for  the  purpose  of  endowment  of  colleges  ? 

A.  I  have  read  it. 

Q.  So  far  as  the  management  of  the  agricultural  college  is  concerned, 
as  relating  to  the  agricultural  department  of  it,  is  it,  in  your  opinion,  con- 
ducted in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  that  act  of  Congress  ? 

A.  I  think  it  is.  I  know  it  has  been  the  endeavor  of  the  trustees  and 
other  members  of  the  faculty  to  have  it  conform  exactly  with  the  act  of 
Congress. 

'  Q.  The  act  of  Congress  requires  that  they  should  have  facilities  for  af- 
fording instruction  in  the  branches  pertaining  to  the  mechanic  arts  ? 

A.  Agricultural  and  mechanic  arts. 

Q.  Does  the  college,  as  now  managed,  afford  instruction  in  the  mechanic 
arts? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  have  no  mechanic  course  laid  down  in  the  catalogue,  separate 
from  the  agricultiiral  and  mechanic  course  ? 

A.  There  is  not  what  is  called  a  mechanic  course,  but  they  have  all  the 
studies  relating  to  the  mechanic  arts — 1  believe  all  that  can  be  applicable 
to  the  mechanic  arts. 

Q,  In  the  scientific  course  ? 

A.  In  the  scientific  course. 

Q.  Is  the  same  chemical  laboratory  necessary  for  the  agricultural  course 
also  necessary  in  the  scientific  ? 

A.  The  same.  They  give  a  general  course  in  chemistry  for  both  sets  of 
students.  Of  course,  students  in  the  different  courses  are  separate,  al- 
though they  work  in  the  same  laboratories. 

Q.  Is  there  in  the  general  science  course  a  practicum  corresponding  with 
the  agricultural  practicum  in  the  agricultural  course  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  The  act  of  Congress  provides  for  teaching  the  branches  pertaining 
to  the  science  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  and  not  excluding  classic 
studies.     How  is  the  college  equipped  for  the  giving  of  instruction  in 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  109 

classics — as  to  its  professorship  and  means  of  imparting  general  instruc- 
tion ? 

A.  I  cannot  say,  because  I  do  not  know  how  a  classical  college  should 
be  equipped — how  the  college  should  be  equipped  for  a  classical  course: 

Q.  Well,  have  they  not  laid  down  a  full  course  of  stud\'  in  the  classics  ? 

A.  They  have  a  full  course  of  study.  That  is  shown  in  this  catalogue. 
The  studies  that  are  advertised  in  this  little  catalogue  are  taught  to  those 
who  desire  it. 

Q.  Are  they  required,  under  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress,  to 
maintain  a  classical  course  ? 

A.  They  are  required  not  to  exclude  it.  Of  course  our  classical  course 
cannot  compare  with  Yale  or  Harvard. 

Q.  So  that  if  any  student  comes  there  and  desires  to  enter  upon  a  course 
of  classical  studies,  the  college  must  be  prepared  to  impart  the  instruction 
in  that  course  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  they  are  prepared  to  do  that. 

Q.  As  to  military  tactics,  that  I  believe  is  another  requirement  of  that 
act  of  Congress.     Do  they  impart  military  instruction  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q,  To  what  extent  ? 

A.  They  have  militarj-  drill,  and,  I  believe,  lectures  on  military-  science. 

Q.  And  tactics  ? 

A.  Military  drill — tactics  comes  in  there. 

Q.  Are  there  text-books  on  military  tactics  ? 

A.  None  studied  in  the  school.  I  do  not  think  that  they  require  any 
text-books  that  are  studied. 

Q.  Then,  Mr.  Hiester,  the  college  being  required,  under  the  act  of 
Congress,  to  teach  all  these  branches  pertaining  to  the  science  of  agricul- 
ture and  the  mechanic  arts,  and  also  the  classic  studies  and  military  tactics, 
could  the  number  of  professors  in  the  institution,  as  at  present,  be  reduced 
in  number  without  injury  to  the  institution  ? 

A.  1  think  not  without  injury  to  the  institution  in  the  college  proper. 

Q.  Where  could  it  be  reduced,  if  at  all,  without  impairing  the  college  ? 

A.  As  the  institution  is  now  organized  it  cannot  be  reduced,  because  I 
do  not  believe  that  we  can  reduce,  or  gain  anything  by  reducing  the  corps 
of  professors,  and  thus  cheapen  the  instruction. 

Q.  Could  the  grade  of  instruction  be  reduced? 

A.  W^e  could  reduce  the  college. 

Q.  Could  not  the  course  of  study,  as  at  present  laid  down  in  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  college,  be  reduced  without  impairing  its  usefulness  as  a 
college  ? 

A.  It  might  be  reduced  to  a  high  school. 

Q.  Are  you  acquainted  with  the  experimental  farms  ? 

A.  1  have  not  seen  the  Eastern  or  Western. 

Q.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  management  of  these  experimental  farms  ? 

A.  No  more  than  hearing  the  reports  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  board. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  as  to  the  practical  value  of  those  experimental 
farms  as  they  are  managed  ? 

A.  I  think  they  have  no  value  up  to  this  t''me. 

Q.  Do  3^ou  speak  of  all  of  them,  or  the  Eastern  or  Western  ? 

A.  Well,  Eastern  and  Western,  more  particularly. 

Q.  Is  there  anything  in  the  management  that,  in  j'our  judgment,  could 
be  remedied  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  there  is  anything  exactly  wrong,  except  that  we 
never  had  a  business  man  for  president.     I  think  that  is  what  we  need. 


110  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Is  that  want  easily  supplied  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  it  is ;  but  I  do  not  ask  for  as  much  as  Colonel  Piolette. 
If  we  could  only  get  a  well-educated  business  man  of  good  judgment,  and 
make  special  effort  to  do  that,  that  is,  if  his  judgment  would  command 
the  respect  of  the  people.  The  trouble  is  to  get  a  scientific  person  to  go 
there  with  any  business  in  him.  I  never  saw  one  yet  that  had  any  in  him. 
While  you  can  get  a  man  of  letters  easily,  there  is  some  diiflculty  in  find- 
ing one  with  business  in  him.  I  think  the  only  way  to  get  a  president  is 
to  get  a  business  man  to  manage  that  college  on  business  principles. 

Q.  The  question  of  selecting  a  president  of  the  Faculty  rests  entirely 
with  the  trustees  't 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  do  3'ou  account  for  the  small  number  of  students  that  ai'e  now 
in  attendance  ? 

A.  Well,  I  account  for  it  in  this  way  :  It  was  started  as  an  agricultural 
college,  and  I  do  not  think  that  agriculturists,  as  a  class,  have  anj^  idea 
of  the  importance  of  education.  And  others  thought,  as  it  was  an  agricul- 
tural college,  it  was  not  intended  for  them  to  send  their  sons  elsewhere. 
Farmers  do  not  want  their  boys  educated  and  go  away  from  home  and 
leave  t  le  farm,  which  would  not  be  the  case  if  they  were  properly  treated 
when  at  home. 

Q.  Is  it  not  also  the  case  where  you  do  find  a  farmer  who  desires  to 
send  his  son  to  college  that  he  makes  up  his  mind  that  he  must  be  a  min- 
ister or  a  doctor  or  a  lawyer,  and  that  he  prefers  to  send  him  directly  to 
a  classical  institution  instead  of  sending  him  to  such  a  school  ? 

A.  It  IS  very  often  the  case. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Have  you  anything  to  suggest  by  way  of  change  in  the  management, 
that  this  committee  can  report  to  the  Legislature  showing  how  this  diffi- 
culty can  be  remedied  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  it  can  be  remedied  by  legislation.  I  think  what  we 
need  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  railroad  close  to  the  school,  so  that  people  can 
get  there  to  see  it,  and  then  we  wann  a  good  business  man  for  president 
and  the  Legislature  cannot  give  us  either  of  these. 

Francis  Jordan,  affirmed-: 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Mr.  Alexander  read  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  appointing  the  com- 
mittee to  investigate  the  aflfairs  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  approved 
the  28th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1881,  and  requested  Mr.  Jordan  to  go  on  and 
make  a  statement,  giving  such  information  to  the  committee  as  he  could. 

Q.  State  what  official  position  you  have  occupied  in  connection  with 
the  government  of  the  State. 

A.  I  became  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  in  1866  or  '67,  I  am  not 
quite  sure  which,  and  as  such  I  was  ex-officio  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  this  institution.  In  that  capacity  I  attended  for  the  six  years 
covering  my  term  of  office,  the  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and 
attended  to  the  duties  thereby  imposed.  Since  then  I  have  been  reelected 
from  time  to  time  until  the  present,  in  the  face  of  a  continued  protest  on 
my  part  against  it ;  but,  nevertheless,  being  elected,  I  have  attended  these 
meetings  with  a  good  deal  of  regularity  twice  a  year  or  oftener,  and  in 
this  wa3'  became  familiar  with  the  institution  to  a  considerable  extent.  I 
believe  that  the  failure  of  the  college  to  meet  the  public  expectation  is  one 
inherent  in  the  nature  of  things.     My  knowledge  of  agricultural  colleges 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  Ill 

in  Europe  and  in  this  country  induces  me  to  think  that  successful  institu- 
tions of  this  class  are  altogether  exceptional,  and  that  in  order  to  insure 
this  success  it  must  have,  in  mj^  opinion,  one  or  other  of  two  things,  or 
both  of  these  things  combined.  First,  a  large  endowment,  or  secondly,  a 
man  in  charge  of  peculiar  adaptation  to  conduct  an  institution  of  this 
kind,  and,  in  my  opinion,  that  kind  of  a  man  is  ver}'  hard  to  find.  During 
these  fifteen  years  in  which  I  have  been  acting  as  one  of  the  trustees,  I 
have  been  associated  with  a  considerable  number  of  gentlemen,  from  time 
to  time,  as  members  of  the  board,  and,  in  the  main,  the  board  has  con- 
sisted of  public-spirited  citizens  of  intelligence  and  character,  who  have 
labored  in  good  faith  to  make  the  institution  a  success.  The  greater  part 
of  the  time  they  have  been  crippled  by  a  large  indebtedness  of  the  institu- 
tion, the  annual  interest  of  which  had  to  be  paid,  thereby  greatl3^  reducing 
the  available  funds  and  resources.  I  would  add,  also,  that  various  presi- 
dents of  the  board  of  trustees,  Hon.  Fred.  Watts,  H.  X.  McAllister,  and 
the  present  president,  General  Beaver,  have,  in  mj^  opinion,  done  their  ut- 
most to  make  the  institution  a  success,  and  to  this  end  have  spared  neither 
time  nor  labor. 

Q.  You  are  familiar  with  the  legislation  bearing  upon  this  institution — 
congressional  and  State  ? 

A.  I  have  a  general  familiarity  with  the  laws. 

Q.  In  your  opinion  has  the  spirit  and  intent  of  these  various  enactments 
been  complied  with  in  the  management  of  the  college  ? 

A.  I  would  answer  the}'  have,  in  my  judgment,  because  that  question 
came  up  from  time  to  tir&e  before  our  board  as  to  whether  or  not  we  were 
within  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  law  under  which  we  were  acting,  and 
the  wish  all  the  time  was  to  conform  strictly  to  the  statutory  requirements, 
both  national  and  State. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  the  current  complaints  that  have  been  floating  about 
in  regard  to  this  college  ? 

A.  All  I  know  are  the  remarks  made  in  the  newspapers. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  definite  charge  that  has  ever  been  made  ? 

A.  I  would  sa}'  in  regard  to  the  accusations  against  the  institution  of  a 
want  of  integrity  in  the  management,  that  the^^  are,  in  my  judgment, 
groundless,  and  I  base  this  opinion  not  only  upon  the  character  of  the 
men  who  have  been  conducting  it,  but  upon  the  opportunity  of  observa- 
tion which  I  have  had  at  our  meetings  for  the  last  fifteen  years.  I  have 
never  seen  or  suspected  an\'  one  of  a  want  of  integrity'  in  its  management, 
nor  do  I  believe  any  such  thing  existed  at  any  time  while  1  was  connected 
with  it. 

Q.  What  has  been  the  character  of  these  complaints  that  are  made  in 
regard  to  this  institution  ? 

A.  Well,  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  followed  them  very  closely,  but  as  I 
now  recall  them,  they  were  vague  accusations  of  extravagance  and   mis- 
management and  sometimes  of  peculations. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Did  the}-  ever  have  any  sponsor,  or  were  they  just  current  rumor  ? 

A.  Well,  1  am  not  able  to  name  the  author  of  the  accusations  or  charges, 
but  generally,  so  far  as  they  came  under  my  observation,  thej'  were  either 
in  the  shape  of  rumors  or  newspaper  articles — anonj-mous  newspaper 
articles. 

Q.  What,  in  3'our  opinion,  is  the  practical  value  of  the  experimental 
farms  in  Chester  and  Indiana  counties? 

A.  My  opinion  is  that  the  expectations  of  the  college  in  making  those 
farms  profitable,  by  reason  of  the  experiments  that  were  to  be  conducted, 


112  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

have  not  been  realized,  and  so  far  as  I  can  see,  with  the  present  resources, 
are  not  likelj'^  to  be  made  successful. 

Q,  Can  you  suggest  any  improvement  that  might  be  made  in  the  general 
conduct  and  management  of  this  institution  ? 

A.  I  do  not  feel  competent  to  make  any  suggestion  that  I  think  would 
relieve  it  of  its  embarrassment,  or  make  it  a  greater  success  than  it  is.  At 
the  same  time,  I  think  it  is  in  a  condition  in  which  it  is  likely  to  do  better 
for  the  future  than  it  has  done  in  the  past.  Whilst  in  a  good  many  direc- 
tions it  has  not  made  much  progress,  I  think  it  has  made  progress  in  other 
directions.  I  think  it  has  made  progress  in  this ;  I  think  its  experience, 
gathered  in  the  history  of  the  past,  has  put  it  in  a  position  to  do  better  for 
the  future,  and,  if  let  alone  and  encouraged,  better  results  may  reasonal)ly 
be  expected  than  have  ever  been  realized  heretofore.  I  agree  with  Mr. 
Hiester  in  the  opinion  that  one  of  our  great  difficulties  is  to  get  a  man  in 
every  way  qualified  to  run  the  institution. 

Q.  You  have  labored  to  that  end,  I  suppose  ? 

A.  We  have  labored  to  that  end,  and  made  different  selections  during 
my  experience  of  fifteen  years  on  the  best  lights  we  had  ;  but  they  resulted 
unfavorably  and  proved  to  our  minds  that  we  had  not  succeeded  in  getting 
the  right  man.  I  consider  it  difficult  to  get  a  man  to,  run  that  institution. 
A  man  of  that  kind  requires  so  much  ability,  and  a  man  with  peculiar 
ability  quite  difficult  to  find  combined  in  any  one  man. 

Q.  You  heard  the  resolution,  under  which  this  committee  act  read.  Can 
you  give  us  any  information  bearing  upon  the  subject  which  we  are  re- 
quired to  investigate  ? 

A.  I  do  not  see  much  more  that  I  can  give  any  light  upon.  I  may  say 
that  I  was  one  of  the  escrly  friends  of  this  institution ;  that  T  aided  it  when 
a  member  of  the  Legislature,  believing  that  it  was  due  to  the  class  of 
people  who  follow  agriculture  as  a  pursuit  of  life,  that  they  should  have 
some  institution  specially  designated  for  their  benefit,  that  I  have  watched 
its  course  during  its  whole  existence  with  great  interest,  and  have  often 
regretted  that  the  expectations  of  its  founders  have  not  been  more  fully 
realized. 

Q.  Did  the  act  of  Congress  of  1862,  denoting  this  land  scrip,  necessa- 
rily require  a  change  of  the  original  purpose  of  this  institution  in  order  to 
make  it  the  recipient  of  that  grant  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  the  trustees  so  considered  it. 

Exhibit  mprked  "  Exhibit,  March  22,  1882,"  shown  witness. 

Q.  Are  these  copies  of  the  original  acts  and  decrees  of  the  court  ? 

A.  1  was  one  of  a  committee  of  five  who  prepared  the  paper  dated  Jan- 
uary 22,  188u,  and  the  statements  therein  contained  are  correct,  and  the 
laws  therein  contained  are  accurately  copied  from  the  statute  books,  Fed- 
eral and  State,  and  also  the  decrees  of  court  relating  to  the  college,  also 
including  the  minutes  of  the  board  of  commissioners  who  sold  the  public 
lands  donated  by  the  United  States,  dated  July  14,  1864.  First  date  un- 
der that  April  28,  1868,  all  of  which  are  correct  copies. 

Q.  Can  you  suggest  any  change  of  the  management  or  general  organi- 
zation v/hich- would  be  beneficial  to  the  institution  in  carrying  into  effect 
the  purposes  of  its  creation  ? 

A.  1  cannot ;  and  the  reason  is  what  I  suggested  a  while  ago,  why  bet- 
ter results  may  be  expected  hereafter.  It  was  based  upon  the  fact,  in 
part,  at  least,  that  there  was  a  re-organization  and  new  arrangement  of  the 
curriculum  adopted  not  very  long  ago,  which  was  done  on  the  best  lights 
we  could  gather,  and  based  upon  such  information  as  induced  the  trustees 
to  think  that  it  would  be  more  efficient  than  it  had  ever  been  heretofore. 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  113 

Q.  Would  it  be  practical  to  make  this  institution  a  part  of  the  common 
school  SNstem  ot  Penns3'lvania,  in  your  judgment  ? 

A.  I  have  never  investigated  that  subject.  It  would  involve  some  very 
nice  questions  of  law,  growing  out  of  our  relation  to  the  State  and  the 
United  States,  and  I  do  not  feel  competent  to  give  a  positive  opinion  upon 
that;  I  would  entertain  serious  doubts  of  its  praoticability,  however. 

Charles  H.  McKee,  sworn  : 
By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  State  if  you  are  a  graduate  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  ? 

A.  I  am. 

Q.  What  year? 

A.  1873.     Our  class  was  known  as  the  class  of  18T3. 

Q.  What  course  of  study  did  you  pursue  at  the  college  ? 

A.  I  took  what  was  then  known  as  the  scientific  course  and  part  agri- 
cultural.    I  believe  I  got  what  was  known  as  the  agricultural  course. 

Q.  What  business  are  you  following  now  ? 

A.  Practicing  law. 

Q.  Mr.  McKee,  in  your  opinion  is  that  college  now  so  managed  as  to 
carrv  out  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  Juh",  1862?  You 
are  familiar  with  the  act,  I  suppose  ? 

A.  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  verj'  familiar  with  the  act.  As  I  understand 
it,  I  do  not  think  the  college  fully  carries  it  out. 

Q.  In  what  respect  does  it  fail  ? 

A.  I  think  the  act  contemplates  an  impossibility,  that  is  my  opinion. 

Q.  That  it  requires  too  much  ? 

A.  It  requires  more  than  is  possible  for  any  institution  to  carrj'  out,  as 
contemplated  bj-  the  act,  or,  at  least,  as  the  act  is  generallj-  understood. 

Q.  Why  impossible  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  it  is  possible  for  au}'  ins'itution,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  four  years,  to  give  as  good  an  education  as  seems  to  be  ex- 
pected ^f  this  institution — to  impart  so  much  learning  and  at  the  same 
time  give  young  men  a  thorough  course  in  practical  agriculture.  I  do 
not  think  you  can  work  the  two  things  in  four  years'  time. 

Q.  But  suppose  you  take  the  agricultural  course  alone — is  it  not  possi- 
ble for  them  to  carry  out  the  course  of  study  laid  down  in  the  catalogue  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  and  if  a  student  will  carrj-  it  out  as  laid  down  in  the  cata- 
logue, for  a  period  of  four  years,  he  has  not  much  time  for  practical  agricul- 
ture. He  has  enough  on  hand  to  occupy  his  time.  If  you  take  and  compare 
that  course  with  a'^y  other  course  of  studj'  laid  down  by  any  college  in 
the  country,  you  will  find  that  there  is  as  much  as  m  any  coUege  course, 
whether  it  is  scientific  or  classical. 

Q.  Well,  is  there  anything  in  the  course  of  instruction,  in  the  agricul- 
tural course,  that  could  be  eliminated  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  no,  sir ;  possibly  man3-  things  might  be  added,  many 
things  that  a  farmer  ought  to  know  that  the}"  do  not  propose  to  teach  him. 
It  is  impossible  to  teach  him  in  so  short  a  time.  A  man  who  wishes  to 
become  a  scientific  agriculturist  has,  you  may  say,  a  life-long  study  before 
him.     He  cannot  master  the  details,  not  even  the 

Q.  In  four  years  ? 

A.  Not  even  the  course  of  learning  through  books  in  four  years'  time. 

Q.  Is  it  not  the  purpose,  however,  of  the  course  of  instruction  as  laid 
down  in  the  books,  to  give  a  theoretical  knowledge  upon  which  the  prac- 
tice in  after-life  is  to  be  based  ? 
8— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


114  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  in  that  respect  the  institution  carries  out  the  meaning  and 
intention  of  the  act  as  fully  as  any  institution  can. 

Q.  Can  you  account  for  the  fact  that  there  are  so  few  students  taking 
the  agricultural  course,  as  laid  down  in  this  catalogue,  at  this  college  ? 

A.  I  cannot  sa3'^  that  I  can  account  for  it,  but  I  might  name  some  reasons 
that  occur  to  me.  There  are  very  few  young  men  in  Penns3?lvania  to-dsLy 
who  want  to  become  scientific  farmers — fancy  or  experimental  farmers.  It 
is  unprofitable.  Few  men  can  afford  to  start  out  in  a  career  of  that  kind, 
and  at  the  present  day  few  men  drift  in  that  direction,  perhaps  on  account 
of  the  cost,  or  perhaps  for  various  other  reasons.  They  may  not  like  the 
vocation — may  find  something  to  suit  their  ideas,  their  course  in  life,  much 
better.  I  think  that  is  the  best  reason.  Then,  perhaps,  a  few  of  the  many 
hundred  that  enter  the  institution  may  have  started  in  that  course  with 
the  idea  of  in  after-life  becoming  scientific  farmers,  but  as  they  grow  to 
mature  years  and  acquire  a  good  education,  such  as  they  must  get  in  that 
course,  they  have  changed  their  intentions.  Influences  have  been  brought 
to  bear  which  lead  them  off  into  other  channels  of  life,  and  they  have  for- 
saken their  original  intentions.  There  are  a  great  many  reasons  why  they 
drift  into  other  professions.  Farming  is  not  profitable,  or  when  they  get 
a  good  education  they  turn  their  hands  to  something  more  profitable,  or 
after  they  have  an  education  their  ideas  of  life  are  changed.  I  might  name 
a  great  many  reasons  whj'  few  men  enter  the  course.  I  fancy  if  we  ascer- 
tain the  inclination  of  any  young  man  of  the  State,  there  are  not  twenty 
who  have  the  inclination  and  the  necessary  capital  to  embark  in  a  scheme 
of  scientific  farming. 

Q.  And,  therefore,  they  drift — necessarily  drift — into  some  of  the  pro- 
fessions or  other  pursuits  of  life,  because  it  is  cheaper  ? 

A.  For  two  reasons.  One  is  because  he  has  changed  his  intentions.  I 
was  sent  to  the  institution  by  my  father,  a  farmer,  and,  I  suppose,  he 
thought  that  I  would  take  charge  of  the  farm  when  I  arrived  at  man's 
years.  He  sent  me  there  with  that  in  view.  When  I  grew  up  to  man's 
years  I  did  not  want  to  go  on  the  farm,  and  that  is  generally  the  case  with 
a  great  many  others. 

Q.  You  know  something  about  the  character  of  the  workshops  and  lab- 
oratories of  this  institution  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  they  prepared  in  their  laboratories  up  there  to  do  all  the  neces- 
sary work,  by  way  of  chemical  analyses,  that  is  required  in  the  agricul- 
tural and  scientific  course  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  they  are  especially  so  in  the  scientific  course,  and  being 
prepared  in  that  course  they  are,  of  course,  prepared  in  the  agricultural 
course. 

Q.  The  two  are  included  ? 

A.  The  chemical  laboratories  are  complete.  The  professor  in  charge  is 
prepared  to  do  as  good  work  as  any  in  the  country.  Right  here,  if  you 
want  the  whole  truth,  there  is  an  institution  prepared  to  do  work  in  agri- 
cultural chemistry — a  State  institution — and  I  venture  that  few  of  the 
farmers  of  the  State  ever  derive  any  benefit  out  of  that  laboratory.  Thej'' 
do  not  care  anything  about  it. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Could  they  derive  any  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes. 

Q.  Will  that  be  done  free  of  charge  ? 

A.  I  cannot  say.  I  do  not  care  about  that.  But  here  we  have  an  insti- 
tution of  that  kind,  prepared  to  do  scientific  work  in  practical  agriculture, 
and  yet  there  is  not  a  farmer  in  the  State  who  cares  anything  about  it.    A 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  '  115 

man  who  is  doing  scientific  farming  looks  at  the  results  that  other  experi- 
menters have  arrived  at. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Q.  The  reason  whj^  the  farmers  do  not  deserve  more  benefit  from  the 
college  and  its  chemical  apparatus  is  because  they  fail  to  avail  themselves 
of  it ;  is  that  the  reason  ? 

A.  That  is  the  principal  reason. 

Q.  Is  it,  or  is  it  not  their  fault  that  they  do  not  derive  more  benefit, 
more  acquaintance  of  the  science  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  it  is. 

Q.  Do  not  send  their  sons  there  ?      ^ 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  there  may  still  be  other  reasons.     The}'  may  not  like  the 
location  of  the  institution ;  may  not  like  the  manner  in  which  it  is  con- 
ducted.    There  are  different  reasons  why  they  do  not  like  the  institution. 
By  Mr.  Xewmyer: 

Q.  Is  the  curriculum  faithfully  adhered  to  ? 

A.  It  was  carried  out  to  the  letter  while  I  was  there  as  a  student.  I 
have  been  there  a  number  of  times  since,  and  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge 
it  is  carried  out  faithfully,  carried  out  well. 

Q.  From  your  experience  as  a  student,  Mr.  McKee,  can  any  portion  of 
the  facultv,  in  your  opinion,  be  disposed  of,  or  the  duties  of  the  different 
professors  be  consolidated  in  one  without  detriment  to  the  interests  of  the 
institution  and  course  of  instruction  ? 

A.  Xo,  sir ;  in  m^'  judgment,  if  the  welfare  of  the  institution  was  looked 
to,  if  any  change  was  made  it  would  be  to  increase  the  professors. 

Q.  Is  the  time  of  the  different  professors  fully  occupied  by  their  duties  ? 

A.  It  is'as  fully  occupied  as  in  other  institutions  of  like  character. 

Q.  Could  any  one  of  them,  without  detriment  to  the  course  of  instpuc- 
tion,  assume  any  additional  duties  ?  Has  he  time  for  any  other  instruction 
than  that  already  imposed  upon  him  by  the  management  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes,  sir ;  an}'  one  professor  might  find  a  few  hours  more  time  in 
which  he  could  labor,  but  which  could  not  be  expected  of  him. 

Q.  Of  course  we  do  not  mean  ten-hours-a-day  work. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Does  it  not  require  as  much  time  to  hear  a  class  of  five  recite  in  any 
given  study  as  it  does  to  hear  a  class  of  twenty  recite  the  same  lesson  ? 

A.  Y'es,  sir ;  a  class  of  one  may  give  the  professor  more  work  than  a 
class  of  fifty,  if  the  one  is  a  good  student.  The  professor  has  his  hour  in 
the  class-room  with  one  student  the  same  as  with  fifty.  In  a  large  class 
the  professor  treats  the  subject  in  a  general  way,  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
greatest  number,  whereas  in  a  class  of  one  he  will  have  to  go  into  the  sub- 
ject in  a  more  minute  way.  It  would  be  expected  of  him. 
By  Mr,  Newmyer : 

Q.  When  you  were  a  student  there,  Mr.  McKee,  what  practical  lessons^ 
in  farming  were  imparted  ? 

A.  We  had  a  great  many  of  them.  I  was  raised  on  a  farm,  and  I  think 
I  did  nearl}'  everything  on  this  farm  that  I  ever  did  on  my  father's  farm, 
and,  perhaps,  some  things  that  I  did  not. 

Q.  Then  it  is  possible  for  a  student  there  to  acquire  an  actual  practical 
knowledge  of  the  details  of  farming,  is  it  not  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  think  it  is  in  a  course  of  four  years. 

Q.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  acquire  all  that  could  be  acquired  on  a 
farm  in  the  same  time  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  not  nearly  so  much. 

Q.  Because  the  time  is  occupied  with  other  studies  ? 


116  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  In  my  opinion,  as  I  said  before,  that  course  of  study  will  occupy 
the  time  of  the  student  for  four  3^ears,  and,  in  addition  to  that,  the  prac- 
tical work  and  the  work  in  the  class-room  and  in  studies  cannot  be  put 
together.     I  think  it  is  a  mistaken  idea  to  try  and  run  them  together. 
Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Can  you  suggest  anything  by  way  of  improvement  in  the  manage- 
ment of  this  college  ;  that  would  make  it  a  greater  success  than  it  has 
been  heretofore ;  that  would  increase  the  number  of  students  who  attend 
it,  and  the  number  of  graduates  who  go  out  of  the  institution  ?  Is  there 
anything  that  you  could  suggest  ? 

A.  It  is  run  down,  and  the  question,  then,  is  how  to  build  it  up.  If  any 
public  institution  becomes  unpopular,  in  order  to  put  it  in  good  shape,  it 
must  be  fitted  up  so  as  to  make  it  fill  all  the  requirements  of  the  public. 
If  a  hotel  is  run  down,  you  all  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  get  it  in  good 
condition.  If  you  want  to  put  the  college  in  good  shape,  you  must  follow 
the  requirements  of  the  public. 

Q.  In  what  way  do  you  consider  this  college  run  down  ?  In  the  build- 
ings, or  course  of  study,  or  in  the  number  of  students  ? 

A.  In  the  minds  of  the  people  it  is  unpopular. 

Q.  Could  you  suggest  an3'thing  that  would  make  it  popular  ? 

A.  One  thing  I  would  do.  I  would  suggest  the  3'ounger  class  of  stu- 
dents be  cut  off.  Another  is  this  :  They  have  a  great  many  young  students 
in  the  preparatory  department.  Now,  discipline  is  necessary  to  keep  them 
under  control,  and  the  young  man  of  the  day  won't  be  satisfied  if  he  is  re- 
stricted with  the  same  rule  that  must  be  enforced  to  keep  them  within 
bounds.  Many  young  men  do  not  like  the  idea  of  being  bound  down  and 
restricted  to  feel  that  they  are  treated  as  children.  That  is  th^  tendency 
of  the  young  men  of  the  day.  The  average  young  man  of  the  day  is  not 
content  to  be  restricted  as  the  students  in  this  institution  are. 

Q.  Because  of  the  strictness  of  the  discipline — the  government — do 
you  mean  ? 

A.  Partly.  The  location  is  against  it.  A  great  many  think  it  not  lively 
enough.  They  do  not  want  to  remain  so  shut  off  from  the  outside  world, 
away  from  society.  You  cannot  find  many  young  men  of  the  day  that  will 
be  content  or  be  satisfied  to  be  shut  in  there.  It  has  its  advantages  and 
its  disadvantages. 

By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  You  were  there  in  Mr.  Burrowes'  time  ? 

A.  Yes.  sir;  and  Dr.  Calder's. 

Q.  Mr.  Burrowes  made  an  effort  to  institute  a  greater  degree  of  life. 
Did  he  not  give  you  little  parties  there  sometimes,  to  which  the  young 
people  of  the  neighborhood  were  invited  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  I  thought  he  did. 

A.  He  had  some  very  pleasant  parties,  but  then  and  now  the  young  man 
of  the  institution,  when  he  gets  his  diploma  and  is  expected  to  take  part 
in  society,  finds  himself  lacking. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer: 

Why? 

A.  He  is  shut  out  from  social  intercourse  with  the  outside  world  and 
that  of  men  and  ladies,  so  that  in  going  into  ladies'  and  gentlemen's  soci- 
ety he  feels  the  need  of  it.  The  student  is  shut  out  from  society  to  a 
great  extent. 

Q.  Is  not  that  more  or  less  so  of  all  colleges  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  but  more  so  there. 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  I)o  you  know  of  any  foundation  for  the  reports  regal 
ciency  of  the  management  of  the  institution  and  its  officers  tha! 
circulated  through  the  public  press  ? 

A.  I  never  knew  of  any  good  foundation  for  those  reports,  other  than 
the  institution  is  not  so  popular  as  all  the  people  wish  it  well  would  like  to 
have  it.  It  does  not  have  the  praise  that  Cornell  has,  nor  the  praise  of 
some  other  institutions.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  damaging  reports  circu- 
lated are  by  men  who  can  not  have  the  institution  managed  to  suit  their 
own  selfish  ends.  I  have  no  doubt  that  many  others,  not  knowing  the  truth 
with  regard  to  its  management,  have  attacked  it.  Ignorance  is  the  reason 
I  assign  for  this  treatment.  Some  of  the  men  in  good  farming  communi- 
ties have  shown  a  disposition  to  attack  it,  and  yet  they  never  avail  them- 
selves of  its  advantages.  Man}-  of  their  sons  could  go  there  and  get  great 
benefit  if  they  would.  There  are  many  of  them  capable  of  criticising  the 
course  of  training  in  the  institution.  Of  course  they  criticise  the  manage- 
ment of  the  farms,  and  perhaps  do  that  subject  justice.  It  is  impossible 
to  run  the  farm  with  a  set  of  half-grown  boys  and  do  the  work.  That 
would  be  a  good  argument.  You  only  have  these  boys  a  small  portion  of 
their  time  ;  the  balance  you  expect  them  to  be  thorough  students  and  men 
of  good  education,  and  also  labor  and  do  first-class  farming. 
By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  Studying  and  working  on  the  farm  do  not  go  well  together  with 
boys  ? 

A.  That  is  the  secret  of  a  good  deal  of  the  want  of  success;  the  reason 
why  the  institution  has  not  been  successful.  It  is  to  my  mind  the  reason. 
To  carry  out  this  act,  as  I  understand  it,  requires  the  attention  of  the 
student  all  the  time.  Now,  in  order  to  carry  out  his  studies,  which  would 
be  to  work  out  of  doors  and  work  in,  the  same  attention  all  the  time  must 
be  made  by  the  student.  Practically,  the  next  day  he  is  not  in  a  condi- 
tion, mentally  or  physically,  to  work.  All  kinds  of  farm  work  occupy 
him,  and  he  must  study  the  books  the  same  day  and  also  do  his  class-room 
work.  There  is  no  doubt  about  it.  A  man  can  not  learn  to  be  a  good 
farmer  in  four  years  and  devote  all  his  time  to  it.  Before  a  young  man 
enters  the  college  department  he  is  expected  to  learn  to  read  and  write. 
If  he  had  that  amount  of  experience  on  the  farm,  and  started  in  there  to 
finish  up  his  course  in  practical  farming,  he  might  do  a  great  deal  finishing 
up.  A  great  many  students  go  there,  not  knowing  anything  about  farm- 
ing. There  is  a  right  wa}'  and  a  wrong  way  to  do  it,  and  it  can  not  be  ex- 
pected in  four  vears' time  put  there. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  expenditure  of  money  in  connec- 
tion with  the  experimental  farm — what  has  been  its  tendency  towards  the 
college — that  is,  has  it  been  a  benefit  or  a  detriment  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  it  has  been  a  detriment.  Many  good  results  and 
much  useful  information  has  been  gathered  through  those  experiment^. 
It  was  not  the  fault  of  the  experiments. 

Q.  You  have  reference  to  the  Central  experimental  farm  ? 

A.  I  was  speaking  in  regard  to  all.  Eastern  and  Western,  but  speaking 
more  particularly  of  the  Central.  Of  the  system  of  experiments  on  the 
three  farms,  I  am  satisfied  the  money  has  been  expended  in  good  faith. 
I  think  they  were  of  practical  benefit. 


118  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Professor  John  Hamilton,  recalled : 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  have  given  as  an  answer  to  pi'inted  questions,  a  statement  of  the 
pames  and  salaries  paid  to  the  different  professors  in  the  college  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  that  a  complete  list  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  believe  so. 

Q.  You  have  read  over  their  names. 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  have  stated  that  .your  position  is  that  of  business  manager  and 
treasurer? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  salary  is  attached  to  the  position  you  hold  ? 

A.  One  thousand  dollars  in  money,  a  house,  and  the  keeping  of  a  horse. 

Q.  The  house  is  valued  at  how  much  ? 

A.  Two  hundred  dollars. 

Q.  Then  your  salary  is  $1,000 ;  house  rent,  value  $200  a  year,  keeping 
of  a  horse  ;  any  other  fees  or  perquisites  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  What  are  the  duties  of  that  office  ? 

A.  As  business  manager,  I  keep  the  books  of  the  institution,  and  also 
those  of  the  Central  experimental  farm,  pay  out  all  bills,  pay  orders  of  the 
president  upon  the  treasurer  of  the  college  for  such  bills  as  ma}^  be  due. 
I  pay  the  professors  of  the  college,  and  by  authority  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, issue  notes  of  the  business  manager  for  current  expenses  of  the 
college,  and  for  bills  that  are  already  due.  As  treasurer,  I  am  the  custo- 
dian of  the  funds  of  the  institution.  The  offices  are  distinct.  It  is  under- 
stood that  the  treasurer  receives  no  salary.  He  never  has  received  a 
salary. 

By  the  chairman : 

Q.  Then  your  salary  is  for  business  manager  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  have  charge  of  certain  employes  about  the  institution ; 
the  erection  of  buildings,  repairs  of  buildings,  and  the  giving  of  orders 
for  such  things  as  professors  may  need  in  their  various  departments ;  pay- 
ing different  bills  and  accounts  with  the  various  farms — these  are  the 
general  duties  that  devolve  upon  the  business  manager. 

Q.  Have  you  anything  to  do  with  the  experimental  farms  ? 

A.  Not  now. 

Q.  How  fully  is  your  time  occupied  with  these  duties  ? 

A.  Well,  I  can  hardly  say.  I  am  not  engaged  as  much  as  I  was  three 
or  four  years  ago.  At  one  time  I  was  professor  of  agriculture,  had  charge 
of  the  three  farms,  had  charge  of  the  entire  business  of  the  college,  and 
was  also  its  treasurer.  I  considered  I  had  more  work  than  two  men  could 
do  well,  and  my  health  gave  way  under  it. 

Q.  When  was  the  office  of  business  manager  created  ?       / 

A.  I  have  been  business  manager  since,  I  believe,  1873 — about  that  time. 
I  was  financial  agent,  which  is  virtually'  the  same  thing,  at  a  previous 
period,  1867,  from  the  close  of  1867  and  during  1868  up  to  February,  I 
believe,  of  1869,  when  I  resigned. 

Q.  Are  there  no  other  permanent  offices  to  which  salaries  are  attached, 
connected  with  the  institution,  not  given  in  the  list  of  professors? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  are  they  ? 

A.  The  salary  of  the  superintendent  of  the  farm  and  the — I  suppose 


Leg.  Doc."]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  119 

you  do  not  want  me  to  make  an 3^  distinction  between  salary  and  wages  ? — 
and  the  salary  of  a  woman  who  acts  as  matron  of  the  institution. 

Q.  Give  the  names  and  amount  of  salary  paid  those  individuals. 

A.  The  name  of  the  superintendent  of  the  college  farm  and  the  Central 
experimental  farm  is  William  C.  J'atterson. 

Q.  Is  he  superintendent  of  only  one  ? 

A.  Of  both  farms. 

Q.  Do  you  run  them  together  ? 

L.  No,  sir;  run  them  distinct.  They  are  contiguous,  but  have  separate 
buildings  upon  them. 

Q.  Give  Patterson's  salary. 

A.  His  salary  is  divided. 

Q.  What  is  the  aggregate  amount  he  gets  ? 

A.  The  college  farm  gives  him  $600,  and  the  experimental  farm  $200 — 
salary  of  $800. 

Q.  Has  he  any  perquisites  attached  to  that  ? 

A.  He  has  a  house. 

Q.  What  is  the  rental  value  of  that  house  ? 

A.  We  place  no  rental  value  upon  it ;  I  suppose  $200  would  be  sufficient 
rental. 

Q.  What  about  the  matron  ?  What  are  her  duties,  and  who  is  she,  and 
what  does  she  get  ? 

A.  Her  name  is  Mrs.  Mary  Harman.  Her  duties  are  to  IooIj;  after  the 
office  and  the  chapel ;  and  if  any  student  is  sick,  we  place  him  in  her 
charge,  if  he  has  no  other  arrangement.  For  her  services  we  gi^^e  her 
$2  50  a  week  and  her  room.  We  have  a  janitor,  and  we  have  farm  laborers 
employed  here  by  the  month. 

Q.  Thej^  are  not  really  permanent  employes — heads  of  departments,  as 
you  might  term  it  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  Have  3'ou  a  master  mechanic  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

By  the  chairman : 

Q.  As  general  manager,  do  you  direct  the  farming  operations  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  not  now.  I  did  when  I  was  professor  of  agriculture.  That 
matter  has  been  turned  over  to  Professor  Jordan. 

Q.  Of  the  experimental  and  college  farms  both  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Well,  whose  dut}"  is  it  to  see  how  man}-  acres  of  grass,  wheat,  and 
com  is  put  out  ? 

A.  Professor  Jordan's. 

Q.  He  attends  to  all  these  details  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Does  he  buy  the  stock  for  the  farms  ?  • 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  and  Mr.  Patterson  acting  for  him. 

Q.  You  simply  engage  the  laborers  for  the  farm  ? 

A.  I  pay  the  labor.  Mr.  Patterson  engages  and  discharges  the  laborers 
himself.  ,  I  am  generally  consulted  in  the  matter. 

Q.  Mr.  Patterson  carries  on  the  business  of  the  farms,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  professor  of  agriculture,  Mr.  Jordan,  in  all  its  details  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Newmj- er : 

Q.  Do  the  students  ever  go  upon  the  Chester  and  Indiana  county  ex- 
perimental farms  for  the  purpose  of  studying  these  experiments  ? 


120  >  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  Not  as  a  rule.     Instances  have  occurred,  but  it  is  not  the  rule. 

Q.  Then  any  information  in  regard  to  the  experiments  on  the  Indiana 
and  Chester  county  farms  he  must  derive  from  the  published  reports  ? 

A.  When  I  was  professor  of  agriculture  I  called  attention  to  the  experi- 
ments being  conducted  upon  these  farms,  bearing  upon  the  subject  under 
discussion  at  the  time.  That  I  have  frequently  done,  shown  the  results  of 
these  experiments. 

Q.  Were  the  results  of  the  experiments  upon  the  experimental  farms  in 
Chester  and  Indiana  counties  made  part  of  the  instruction  in  the  class  in 
agriculture  ? 

A.  Attention  was  called  to  the  experiments  that  were  in  operation  bear- 
ing upon  the  questions  that  arose  in  class  discussion. 
By  the  chairman : 

Q.  Were  students,  during  your  connection  as  professor,  and  since  then, 
taken  to  the  experimental  farms  and  shown  the  manner  of  making  these 
experiments  and  the  results, as  a  means  of  conveying  instruction? 

A.  No,  sir ;  they  were  not,  as  a  rule. 

Q.  Then  the  only  means  of  acquiring  any  knowledge,  in  regard  to  these 
experiments  and  the  results,  is  confined  to  the  recitation-room  or  pub- 
lished reports  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  and  as  students  went  over  these  plots  by  themselves.  A 
programme  of  these  plots  was  printed,  giving  the  experiment  that  was 
carried  on  on  each  plot,  and  the  plots  were  ail  numbered  corresponding 
with  the  numbers  in  the  printed  programme.  He  could  take  the  pro- 
gramme and  go  over  the  plots  for  himself,  and  see  just  what  experiments 
were  conducted  there. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Was  that  optional  or  not  ? 

A.  It  was  optional.  The  manner  of  giving  instruction  upon  the  college 
farm  (we  call  it  the  college  farm  so  as  to  distinguish  it  from  the  experi- 
mental farm)  was  to  give  instruction  in  the  branches  pertaining  to  matters 
of  husbandry. 

Q.  He  was  given  instruction  there  in  the  matter  of  manual  labor  ? 

A.  Not  that  only,  but  in  the  methods  of  treatment  of  animals;  in  the 
feeding  of  animals ;  in  the  study  of  the  character  and  breeds  of  animals. 

Q.  How  about  the  value  of  foods  for  animals  ? 

A.  That  was  usually  given  in  the  class-room  instruction.  One  part  of 
the  system  of  practicums  was  to  have  the  students  read  upon  a  certain  sub- 
ject, for  instance,  in  animal  husbandry,  for  one  hour  in  the  class-room, under 
the  direction  of  the  professor  in  charge,  reading  upon  the  horse  for  ex- 
ample, they  were  afterwards  taken  out,  and  the  matter  that  they  had  in- 
formed themselves  upon,  in  the  class-room,  was  gone  over  at  the  barn  by 
taking  the  horse  from  the  stable,  and  going  over  the  points  which  make  up 
a  horse  for  different  puposes,  for  draft  and  speed,  and  horses  for  different 
uses,  and  so  on  with  cattle  and  swine,  and  poultry  and  sheep,  and  getting 
at  the  characteristics  of  animals,  getting  practically  acquainted  with  them. 
By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  Does  the  college  management  require  a  series  of  experiments  to  be 
made,  by  analysis,  either  on  the  experimental  farm  or  on  the  college  farm, 
of  the  value  of  corn,  oats,  shorts,  timothy  hay,  clover  hay,  straw,  and  other 
articles  in  respect  to  their  value  as  food  for  fattening  purposes  ? 

A.  They  have  not  required  it.  It  has  been  done,  however,  to  a  certain 
extent. 

Q.  Recently  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  121 

Q.  Have  thej-  ever  been  published  ? 

A.  They  are  ready  for  publication.     Some  of  them  have  been  published, 
and  the  balance  of  them  are  ready  for  publication. 
Adjourned  to  meet  at  7.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 


Met  at  T.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 

William  P.  Huston  affirmed  : 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Q.  State  what  your  official  position  is. 

A.  I  am  what  is  known  as  search  clerk  in  the  Department  ol  Internal 
Affairs. 

Q.  State  what  this  book  is  (indicating)  that  you  have  brought  with  3'ou  ? 

A.  It  is  indorsed  ''  Minute  Book,  Agricultural  Lands." 

Q.  You  brought  that  from  the  office  of  the  Secretary-  of  Internal. 
Affairs  ? 

A.  I  did. 

Q.  What  does  it  contain  ? 

A.  It  appears  to  be  just  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  the  sale  of  agricultural  land  scrip.  The  first  in  it  appears  to  be  the 
Act  of  Congress  donating  public  lands  to  the  several  States  and  Terri- 
tories which  may  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts.  After  that  comes  the  minutes  of  the  board.  First  date, 
Harrisburg,  15th  July,  1«64  ;  next,  2d  August,  1864  ;  next,  December  1, 
1864  ;  next,  December  5,  1864  :  December  17,  1864  ;  December  24,  1864  ; 
January  5,  1865;  January  21,  1865  ;  May  5,  1865;  May  11,  1865  ;  June 
I  '^5  1865  ;  June  21 ,  1865  ;  June  22,  1865.  Then  comes  that  called  "  scrip," 
shown  under  date  from  July  5,  1865,  to  April  25,  1866.  Then  comes 
minutes,  Board  Commissioners,  Harrisburg,  Ma}'  10,  1866  ;  May  23,  1866  ; 
June  14,  1866;  July  11,  1866;  August  16,^1866;  October  18,  1866.  Here 
IS  something  different:    Executive  Chamber,  January  1,  1867;  February 

27,  ls67.     Here  comes  Surveyor  General's  Office,  Api'il  10,  1867;  June 

28,  1867  ;  August  7, 1867  ;  September  17, 1867  ;  February  12,  1868  ;  April 
23,  1868.     That  appears  to  end  it. 

Q.  You  did  state  that  came  from  amonj  the  records  of  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  on  file  there — deposited  there  would  be  better. 

By  the  chairman  : 
Q.  That  is  the  official  record  ?  • 

A.  Yes,  sir;  that  is  the  official  record. 

Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners. 

Harrisburg,  July  7^,  186^. 

In  pursuance  of  the  act  of  Assembl}^  of  the  1st  of  April,  186^,  entitled 
"  An  act  to  accept  the  grant  of  public  lands  by  the  United  States  to  the 
several  States  for  the  endowment  of  agricultural  colleges,"  the  board  of 
commissioners  was  convened  at  the  chamber  of  the  GoA'ernor  in  Harrisburg. 

There  were  present  His  Excellency  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor,  and  James 
P.  Barr,  Esq.,  Surveyor  General. 

It  being  represented  to  the  commission  that  the  scrip  to  this  State  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  had  been  rev^eived,  it  becomes  nec- 
essaiy  to  make  such  disposition  of  it  as  is  required  by  the  provisions  of 
the  act  of  Congress  of  the  2d  July,  1862. 


122  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Whereupon  the  following  was  agreed  to  : 

Resolved,  That  in  pursuance  of  the  third  section  of  the  act  of  Assembly, 
the  following  rules  and  regulations  are  hereby  adopted  : 

1.  That  it  is  expedient  immediately  to  dispose  of  the  land  scrip  donated 
by  Congress,  that  the  proceeds  thereof  may  be  funded  for  the  purpose  pro- 
vided by  law. 

2.  That  the  Surveyor  General  is  hereby  directed  to  appoint  an  agent 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  make  such  arrangements  for  the  sale  of  the  said 
scrip  as  may  be  deemed  adequate  for  the  attainment  of  the  object,  report- 
ing his  action  for  the  approval  of  this  board. 

3.  When  the  action  of  this  agent,  shall  have  been  approved  by  the 
board,  and  the  scrip  or  any  part  thereof  shall  have  been  sold,  and  the  price 
paid  to  the  State  therefor,  the  Surveyor  General  is  directed  to  issue  and 
deliver  from  time  to  time  the  said  scrip  to  the  purchaser  or  purchasers. 

4.  When  such  payments  shall  have  been  made,  the  same  shall  be  invested 
as  they  accrue  in  the  stocks  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

5.  The  interest  which  shall  arise  from  such  investments,  shall  be  paid 
over  to  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  in  pursuance  of  the  third 
section  of  the  act  of  Assembly. 

On  motion,  the  board  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  Surveyor  General's  oflSce, 
on  Tuesday,  the  2d  day  of  August  next,  at  ten  o'clock,  a.  m. 


Surveyor  General's  Office, 
Harrisburg,  2d  August,  1864- 

The  board  of  commissioners  met,  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Members  present,  Governor  A.  G.  Curtin  and  Surveyor  General  James 
P.  Barr.  Evidence  of  notices  having  been  served  on  the  Auditor  General, 
Isaac  Slenker  was  received  and  accepted. 

The  Surveyor  General  appointed,  agreeably  to  the  rules  provided,  Pro- 
fessor William  H.  Allen,  president  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Penn- 
sylvania, to  make  arrangements  for  the  sale  of  land  scrip,  and  Lewis  U. 
Stout,  secretary. 

On  motion  adjourned. 


•  Surveyor  General's  Office, 

Harrisburg,  December  1,  1864- 

The  commissioners  for  the  sale,  &c.,  of  land  scrip  met  at  this  office. 
Present,  His  Excellency  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor,  and  Hon.  James  P.  Barr, 
Surveyor  General.  A  written  notice  to  Auditor  General  Isaac  Slenker, 
of  the  time  and  place  of  meeting,  and  the  acceptance  thereof  by  him,  was 
presented  and  filed. 

The  proposals  received  for  the  purchase  of  land  scrip  were  opened  and 
examined,  and,  on  motion,  the  board  adjourned,  to  meet  at  this  office,  on 
Monday,  the  5th  day  of  December  instant. 


Leg.  Doc] 


Pennsylvania  State  College. 


123 


Surveyor  General's  Office, 
Harrisburg,  December  5,  1864- 

The  commissioners,  in  pursuance  of  an  adjournment,  met  and  decided 
to  accept  the  following  proposals,  viz  : 
Samuel  Lynn,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa., 
Jas.  Gordon,  of  Zion,  Centre  co.,  Pa.,  . 
Edmund  Blanchard,  Bellefonte,  Pa., 
R.  H.  Duncan,  of  Spring  Mills,  Pa., 
James  McMannus,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa.,  . 
E.  W.  Hale,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa., 
James  T.  Hale,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa.,    .    . 
E.  C.  Humes,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa.,    .    .    . 
Wm.  Allison,  of  Potter's  Mills.  Pa.,     . 
H.  N.  McCallister  and  James  Beaver,  of 

Bellefonte,  Pa., 
Wm.  P.  Wilson,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa.,  .    . 


1  quar.  sect,  at  85  cts.  per  acre. 
8 


2 


16 
1 

76 


It  was  further  agreed  by  the  board  that  eighty-five  cents  per  acre  should 
be  the  minimum  price  at  which  any  of  the  scrip  shall  be  sold,  and  that  at 
that  price  the  same  may  be  issued  on  written  application  until  further  ac- 
tion of  the  board.     Adjourned. 


December  17^  I864. 

The  written  proposals  of  Jacob  S.  Ahl,  of  Boalsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
oflTering  to  take  one  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  also  the 
proposal  of  John  Irwin,  jr.,  of  Howard,  Centre  county,  Pennsylvania, 
offering  to  take  two  tracts  at  eighty-five  cents  per  acre. 

These  two  bidders  were  notified  of  the  acceptance  of  their  bids  by  Mr. 
Allen. 

Same  day  all  the  bidders  whose  proposals  have  been  accepted ,  were  noti- 
fied by  mail  to  pay  the  one  fourth  of  the  purchase  money  within  ten  days 
from  date  of  notice,  and  the  remainder  on  the  delivery  of  the  scrip. 


December  24,  I864. 

Received  the  following  payments  : 

McAllister  and  Beaver,  one  fourth,    . $544^ 

December  2T,  1864,  received  of — 

E.  W.  Hale, $272 

John  Irwin,  jr., 68 

December  28,  1864,  received  of — 

E.  C.  Humes,      $272 

William  Allison, 272 

James  Gordon, 272 


January  5,  1866. 
The  Surveyor  General  addressed  the  following  communication  to  Hon. 
J.  M.  Edmunds,  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  Washington 
city,  D.  C.,and  inclosed  a  copy  of  the  act  of  Assembly  therein  referred  to  : 


124  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

State  of  Pennsylvania,  Surveyor  General's  Office, 

Harrisburg,  January  5,  1865. 
Sir:  In  pursuance  of  an  act  of  Congress,  approved  July  2,  1862,  en- 
titled "An  act  donating  public  lands  to  the  several  States  and  Territories 
which  may  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts,"  I  herewith  forward,  to  be  filed  in  the  General  Land  Office,  a  certified 
copy  of  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  entitled  "An 
act  to  accept  the  grant  of  public  lands  by  the  United  States,  for  the  en- 
dowment of  agricultural  colleges,"  approved  the  first  dav  of  April,  A.  D. 
1863. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  P.  BARR,  S.  G. 
Hon.  J  M.  Edmunds, 

Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  Washington  city. 


January  11,  186.*),  received  of — 

"  McAllister  and  Beaver, $1,632 

"              Jacob  S.  Awl, 136 

"        21,  John  Irwin,  jr.,      204 

"              E.  C.  Humes,          816 

"              William,  Allison, 816 

"              E.  W.  Hale, 816 


January  21,  1866. 

Issued  scrip  numbered  from  one  to  fiftj'-two,  inclusive,  as  follows  : 

McAllister  and  Beaver, Nos.     1 — 16^16  scrips. 

E.  W.  Hale,      "      17—24=  8      •' 

E.  C.  Humes, "      25—32=  8      " 

William  Allison,      "      33—40=  8      " 

Jacob  S.  Awl,      "      41         =1      " 

John  Irwin,  jr  ,        "      42 — 43=  2      " 

William  P.  Wilson,     .    .  .        ..."      44         =  1      " 

February  IT,  1865,  issued  the  following  scrip  : 
James  Gordon,     .    .  Nos.  45 — 52=:  8  scrips. 

Received  balance,  $816. 


May  5,  1865. 

At  a  full  meeting  of  the  board  held  at  the  Auditor  General's  oflSce,  the 
following  resolution  was  passed  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Surveyor  General  is  hereby  directed  to  advertise 
the  sale  of  the  lands  donated, at  the  expense  and  under  such  arrangements 
as  he  deems  proper  to  make  with  the  Agricultural  College.  The  adver- 
tisement to  be  put  in  two  papers  in  Harrisburg,  at  least  two  in  Philadelphia 
and  Pittsburgh,  and  in  every  county  and  city  where  there  is  a  college  or 
university.  No  bid  to  be  considered  which  is  under  seventy-five  cents  per 
acre. 

On  motion,  the  board  adjourned. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  125 

May  11,  1865. 
Received  the  following  payments  : 

E.  C.  Humes  and  Adam  Hoy,  administrators  of  James  T.  Hale,  deceased, 
paid  $1,088. 

Same  day  issued  scrip  to  them,  Nos.  53  to  60,  inclusive. 


June  13,  1865. 
Received  of  William  P.  Wilson,  $136,  and  delivered  one  scrip.  No.  44. 


June  21,  1865. 
Received  of  Edmund  Blanchard,  $1,088. 
Same  day  issued  him  serin  from  Nos.  51  to  68,  inclusive. 
Received  of  Samuel  Lj'nn  $136,  and  issued  one  scrip,  No.  69. 
Received  of  R.  H,  Duncan  $1,088,  and  issued  eight  scrips,  N^os.  70  to 
•77,  inclusive. 


I 


June  22.  1865. 
The  board  of  commissioners  met  at  the  Surveyor  General's  office,  in 

pursuance  of  an  advertisement  published  by  direction  of  the  resolution 

passed  on  the  5th  of  May  last,  and  opened  the  bids  received  for  the  land 

scrip. 

The  following  bids  were  accepted,  and  notice  given  to  the  parties  to 

make  payment : 

George  F.  McFarland,  Harrisburg,  ...         2  scrips  @  75  cts.  per  acre. 
Parly  Coburn,  Harrisburg,      .....      2      "  75 

Abraham  Hoover,  West  Fairview,  .    .  .         1      "  80 

L.  A.  Tucker,  Rockdale,  Pa.,  .    .  1      "  80 

David  Pollock,  Maysville,  Mercer  county,  .  1      "  87^ 

Forney  &  Bro.,  Harrisburg,      . 6      "  80 

Charles  P.  Coburn,  Harrisburg, 4      "  75 

John  H.  Merllison,  Co.  H,  190  P.  T.,      .       1      "  101| 

John  H.  Merllison,  Co.  H,  190  P.  V.,  1      '^  80^ 

On  motion,  resolved,  that  the  Surveyor  General  or  the  president  of  the 

Agricultural  College  of  Pennsj-lvania,  be  authorized  to  accept  all  the  bids 

made  at  sevent3'-five  cents  per  acre,  or  such  amount  as  may  be  offered 

exceeding  that.     Adjourned. 


Scrip  Issued. 

July  5,  1865,  issued  to  Forney  &  Brother  six  scrips,  No.  78  to  83,  in- 
clusive. 

July  6,  1865,  issued  to  Abraham  Hoover  one  scrip,  No.  84. 

Same  day  issued  to  Parley  Coburn  two  scrips,  Nos.  85  to  86. 

July  8,  1865,  issued  to  Charles  B.  Coburn  four  scrips,  Nos.  87  to  90, 
inclusive. 

July  12, 1865,  issued  to  George  F.  McFarland  two  scrips,  Nos.  91  and  92. 

August  12,  1865,  issued  to  George  Thomas  one  scrip,  No.  93,  at  $1  per 
acre. 

August  22,  1865,  issued  to  George  M.  Young  one  scrip.  No.  94,  at  80 
cents  per  acre. 

September  2,  1865,  issued  to  Richard  Morely  one  scrip,  No.  95. 


125  Report  of  the  Committee.  [^o.  18, 

September  23,  1865,  issued  four  scrips,  Nos.  96  to  99,  inclusive,  to 
Charles  B.  Coburn,  at  16  cents  per  acre. 

September  23,  1865,  issued  six  scrips  to  William  H.  Allen,  Nos.  100  to 
105,  inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

September  23,  1865,  issued  six  scrips,  to  A.  O.  Hiester,  Nos.  106  to  111, 
inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

September  28,  1865,  issued  four  scrips,  to  Andrew  Reed,  Nos.  112  to 
115,  inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

September  28,  1865,  issued  eight  scrips,  to  William  Allison,  Nos.  116  to 
123,  inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

November  6,  1865,  issued  four  scrips,  to  Hon.  Daniel  Kaine,  Nos.  124  to 
127,  inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

November  6,  1865,  issued  six  scrips,  to  Alfred  Howell,  Nos.  128  to  133, 
inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

November  6,  1865,  issued  eight  scrips,  to  J.  Skiles,  jr.,  Nos.  134  to  141, 
inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

April  14,  1866,  issued  six  scrips,  to  Stephens  and  Miller,  Neosho,  New- 
ton county,  Missouri,  Nos.  142  to  147,  inclusive,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 

April  25,  1866,  issued  one  scrip,  to  John  Scherick,  of  Lisburn,  Cumber- 
land county,  Penn'a,  No.  148,  at  75  cents  per  acre. 


Harrisburg,  Pa.,  May  10^  1866. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  the  sale  of  "  agricultural  land  scrip,"  met 
at  the  office  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society. 

Members  present:  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president ;  J. 
F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General ;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

Surveyor  General  Campbell  reported  the  fact  that  the  minute  book  and 
papers  of  the  board  had  been  taken  away  by  the  former  clerk,  and  that  no 
record  or  papers  of  the  board  remained  in  his  office. 

On  motion,  it  was  resolved  that  Surveyor  General  Campbell  and  William 
H.  Allen  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  requested  to  proceed  at 
once  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  the 
sale  of  land  scrip. 

The  board  adjourned  to  the  office  of  the  State  Treasurer,  for  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  what  amount  of  land  scrip  had  been  withdrawn  from  the 
vault,  and  what  amount  of  bonds  or  other  securities  belonging  to  the  board 
had  been  deposited  there. 

Board  met  at  the  office  of  the  State  Treasurer,  where,  upon  examination, 
they  found  that  (167)  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  quarter  sections  had 
been  taken  from  the  package  of  land  scrip,  and  that  there  was  deposited 
to  the  credit  of  the  board,  two  packages  purporting  to  contain  respectively 
$12,300  and  $5,800  in  State  bonds. 

On  motion  adjourned. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 
Secretary  pro  tern. 


Surveyor  General's  Office, 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  May  23,  1866. 
The  commissioners  for  sale,  &c.,  of  agricultural  land  scrip  met  at  this 
office. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  121 

Members  present:  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president;  J. 
F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General, 

Letter  from  William  H.  Allen,  reporting  result  of  negotiations  for  sale 
of  land  scrip  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  was  read.  Mr.  Campbell  re- 
ported verbally  that  the  only  responsiblv  proposition  worthy  of  being  en- 
tertained was  an  informal  one  from  Jay  Cooke,  of  Philadelphia  ;  when,  on 
motion, it  was 

Resolved^  That  the  Surveyor  General  be  authorized  to  write  to  Jay 
Cooke  for  a  formal  proposition  for  the  purchase  of  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  thousand  acres. 

Mr.  Stout,  former  clerk,  not  having  yet  returned  the  books  and  papers 
of  the  board.  Gov.  Curtin  was  requested  to  write  to  Mr.  Barr,  late  Surveyor 
General,  notifj^ing  him  of  the  fact,  and  of  his  responsibility  in  the  matter. 

On  motion  adjourned. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 
Secretary  pro  tern. 

Harbisburg,  June  14-,  1866. 

Board  of  commissioners  met  in  the  office  of  the  Surveyor  General. 

Present:  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president;  J.  F.  Hart- 
ranft, Auditor  General ;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

Governor  Curtin  reported  that  he  had  written  to  Mr.  Barr,  late  Surveyor 
General,  in  reference  to  the  books  and  papers  of  the  board,  and  that  Mr. 
Barr  informed  him  the  books  would  be  returned,  and  that  the  amount  due 
the  board  would  be  subject  to  their  draft  on  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Pittsburgh. 

Surveyor  General  reported  that  Mr.  Louis  U.  Stout  did,  on  the  12th  of 
June,  return  to  his  office  the  minute  book  of  the  board,  also  that  there  had 
been  returned  to  the  State  Treasurer  (19)  nineteen  pieces  of  land  scrip  by 
Mr.  Stout,  leaving  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  pieces  accounted  for  as 
sold,  and  that  from  an  examination  of  the  book  it  appeared  there  was  due 
the  board  the  sum  of  $923  70  on  sales  of  land  scrip  under  the  ^administra- 
tion of  Mr.  Barr. 

When,  on  motion,  it  was 

Besolved,  That  the  Surveyor  General  be  authorized  to  draw  upon  Mr. 
Barr  for  the  sum  of  $923  70  due  the  board. 

The  proposals  of  Jay  Cook  &  Co.,  David  Preston  &  Co.,  B.  Franklin 
Clark,  and  J.  Thompson,  for  the  purchase  of  land  scrip,  were  laid  before 
the  board. 

Ordered  that  the  proposals  be  filed. 

On  motion,  adjourned. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 
Secretary  pro  tem. 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  July  11,  1866. 

Board  of  commissioners  met  at  the  executive  chamber. 

Members  present :  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor  ;  J.  F.  Hartranft,  Auditor 
General ;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

Surveyor  General  Campbell  reported  that  he  had  drawn  upon  Mr.  Barr, 
late  Surveyor  General,  for  $923  70,  the  balance  due,  which  would  square 
the  account  of  Mr.  Barr  with  the  board,  as  the  same  was  shown  by  the 
book. 

A  form  of  circular,  inviting  proposals  for  the  purchase  of  land  scrip 
was  then  read  and  agreed  upon,  and  the  board  ordered  that  fifteen  hun- 


128 


Report  of  the  Committee. 


[No.  18, 


dred  copies  of  the  circular  be  printed  for  the  use  of  the  board,  and  that 
the  same  be  printed  as  an  advertisement,  until  the  fifteenth  day  of  August, 
18C  ■,  in  the  following  papers,  viz  : 

Harrisburgh  Telegraph,  (daily,)  Harrisburg  Patriot  and  Union,  (weekly,) 
Pittsburg  Evening  Ciironicle,  (daily,)  Pittsburgh  Commei'cial  Journal, 
(daily,)  Pittsburgh  Gazette,  (daily,)  Bellefonte  Central  Press,  (weekly,) 
Philadelphia  Universe,  (weekly,)  Ebensburg  Alleghenian,  (weekly,)  Phila- 
delphia Free  Press,  (German  daily,)  Philadelphia  Evening  Telegraph, 
(daily,)  North  American  and  U.  S.  Gazette,  Philadelphia  Bulletin  and 
Press,  (daily,)  Lancaster  Express,  (weekly,)  Chambersburg  Repository, 
(weekly,)  Erie  Gazette,  (weekly,)  Cambria  Tribune,  (weekly,)  Reading 
and  SchuylkillJournal,  (weekly,)  Brookville  Republican,  (weekly,)  Norris- 
town  Herald  and  Free  Press,  (weekly,)  Fitzgerald  City  Iteta. 

On  motion,  adjourned  to  August  IB,  1866,  when  the  board  will  meet  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  proposals  and  awarding  bids  for  land  scrip. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 
Secretary  pro  tern. 


,  Surveyor  General's  Office, 

Harrisburg,  August  16,  1866. 
Board  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Members  present:  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor,  J.  F.  Hartranft,  Auditor 
General ;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

The  board  proceeded  to  open  proposals  for  the  purchase  of  land  scrip. 
The  following  proposals  were  accepted,  and  the  Surveyor  General  ordered 
to  notify  the  parties  of  the  acceptance  of  their  respective  bids,  viz  : 


Names. 


Address. 


Pieces. 


Price  per 
acre. 


David  Preston  <fe  Co., 
H.  Thompson,*  cash, 
George  Nelson,*    . 
J.  M.  Carlisle,* 
Fuller  Trump,*  .   . 
G.  K.  Lewis,     .   .   . 
William  A.  Fields, 
D.  S.  Coyl,    .       .   . 
F.  D.  Shellenberg, 
Isaac  Kaufinau  and  Silas 

J.  Coover,     .   .    . 
H.  Pillow,*      .    .   . 
James  A.  Johnson, 
S.  K.  McCoy,   .   .   . 
8.  K.  McCoy,  .    .    . 
J.  Edward  Roberts,  . 
J.  Edward  Roberts,  . 
C.  R  Ellis  &  Co.,   .   , 
C.  B.  Ellis,  .   . 

J.  R.  P.  Brown,*  .  . 
Harvey  G.  Plelds,*  . 
Rev.  John  C.  Br5'son, 
Thomas  H.  McClelland, 
James  H.  Smith,*  .  . 
James  H.  Dick,  .  . 
J.  T.  F.  Wright,*  . 
J.  T.  F.  Wright,* 
Rev.  Marcus  Ormond, 
James  Freeland,  .  . 
H.  H,  Gregg,  .... 
John  Huber,    .... 


Detroit,  Michigan,         

St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  ...  .   .    . 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota, 

New  Lisbon,  Ohio, 

Springtield,  Ohio, 

Detroit,  Michigan 

Schuylkill  Haven,  Pa 

East  Waterford,  Juniata  county,  Pa., 
Meyer's  Mills,  Somerset  county.  Pa  , 

Davidsville,  Somerset  county,  Pa.,  . 

Prospect,  Butler  county,  Pa 

Smith's  Ferry,  Beaver  county  Pa., 
Hughesville,  Lycoming  county,  Pa 
Hughesville,  Lycoming  county.  Pa 
Johnstown,  Cambria  county.  Pa.,    . 
Johnstown,  Cambria  county.  Pa.,    . 
Johnstown,  Cambria  county.  Pa.,   . 
Johnstown,  Cambria  county.  Pa.,   . 
Smith's  Ferry,  Beaver  county.  Pa., 
Schuylkill  Haven,  Pa.,     .    .           .   . 
Biever's  P.  O.  Allegheny  county.  Pa, 
Vancefort,  Allegheny  county,  Pa., 
Vancefort,  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 
Mansfield  Valley,  Allegheny  co..  Pa 
Pittsburgh,  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 
Pittsburgh,  Allegheny  county,  Pa., 
Hookatown,  Beaver  county,  Pa., 
Millersburg,  Dauphin  county,  Pa., 
Harrisburg,  Daupliin  c  )unt3',  Pa.,  . 
Ma>silon,  Ohio, 


100 

60 

50 

1 

1 

1,159 

4 

2 

1 


4 
4 
4 
8 
2 
2 
44 
4 
1 
1 
3 
2 
1 
4 
2 
1 
3 
6 
8 
2 


$0  553 
85 
90 
62J 
75 
55 
75 
80 
90 

65 
75 
60 
62 
62 
60 
66 
66 
66 
60 
80 
75 
75 
1  00 
75 
60 
64 
75 
75 
621 
55' 


Uncalled  for. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College. 

The  following  proposals  were  rejected,  viz  : 


129 


Names. 


Address. 


Alvin  Wilkins, 
C.  and  G.  Woodman, 
Drexel  <fe  Co.,  in  part, 
James  H.  Gower, 
Henry  Eastman,    .    . 
Levi  Birdduff,* 
William  L.  Patterson, 
G.  F.  TVf  oFarland, 
Henry  Hunter  mash, 
John  W.  Rodgers;    . 
H.  P.  Griffin, 
W.  R.  Hamilton,! 
W.  R.  Hamilton,} 
W.  R.  Hamilton,! 
Marcus  Orniond,* 
John  Chambers,* 
John  Morgan,*  . 
Samuel  Smith,* 


Detroit,  Michigan, 

New  York,        . 

Philadelphia,  

Iowa  (  ity, 

Herritstown.  Fayette  county,  Pa.,  . 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,       

East  Mauch  Chunk, 

Harrisburg,  Pa., 

PVeeport,  Armstrong  county,  Pa.,  . 
New  Castle,  Lawrence  county.  Pa., 
Franklin,  Venango  county.  Pa., 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  ...    ^    ...    . 

Pittsburgh,  Pa., 

Pittsburgh,  Pa., 

Hookstown,  Beaver  county.  Pa.,     . 

t  leveland,  Ohio,     ...  .... 

Dayton,  Ohio, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa., 


*  Accepted. 

t  These  three  bids  were  withdrawn  by  letter  before  the  opening  of  proposals. 

On  motion,  the  Surveyor  General  was  requested  to  issue  scrip  in  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  o.f  the  accepted  bMs,  as  the  same  may  be  called  for. 
On  motion,  adjourned.  J.  M.  CAMPBELL,  Secretary  pro  tern. 


Surveyor  General's  Office,  Harrisburg,  October  18, 1866. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  sale  of  agricultural  land  scrip  met. 

Present :  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor  and  ex  officio  president ;  J.  M.  Camp- 
bell, Surveyor  General. 

It  was  resolved  that  the  Surveyor  General  be  authorized  and  directed 
to  pay  the  expenses  incurred  (prior  to  May  1,  1866,)  by  Dr.  William  H. 
Allen  and  trustees  of  agricultural  school,  as  per  bill  and  vouchers  filed, 
amounting  to  $363  92. 

Also,  that  he  pay  the  amount  expended  since  May  15,  1866,  as  per  ab- 
stract and  vouchers  on  file,  No.  1  to  26,  amounting  to  $730  S").  On  motion, 
adjourned.  .  J.  M,  CAMPBELL,  Secretary  pro  tern. 


Executive  Chamber,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  October  — ,  1866. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  sale  of  agricultural  land  scrip  met. 

Members  present :  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president ;  J. 
F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General ;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

On  motion,  it  was 

Bemlved,  That  the  Surveyor  General  be  requested  not  to  invest  the 
mone}^  received  from  the  sale  of  agricultural  college  scrip  at  present,  owing 
to  the  high  rates  of  premium  at  which  State  and  National  bonds  are  now 
held.     On  motion,  adjourned.  J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 

Secretury  pro  tern. 

Executive  Chamber,  Harrisburg,  January  1,  1867. 
Board  of  commissioners  for  sale  of  agricultural  land  scrip  met. 
Members  present:  A.  G.  Curtin,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president;  J. 
F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General ;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 
9— Leg.  Doo.  No.  18. 


130  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

On  motion  of  General  Hartranft, 

Eesolved,  That  the  Surveyor  General  be  and  is  directed  to  invest  the 
money  in  his  hands  in  Pennsylvania  or  national  securities  immediately. 
On  motion,  adjourned.  J.  M.  CAMPBELL,  Secretary  pro  tern. 


Executive  Chamber,  Harrisburg,  February  27,  1867. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  the  sale  of  agricultural  land*scrip  met. 

Members  present :  John  W.  Geary,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president ; 
J.  F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

The  Surveyor  General  reported  that  he  had  invested  the  money  received 
for  scrip  sold  in  the  new  issue  of  United  States  5-20  bonds,  amounting  to 
$126,UU0,  and  that  he  had  deposited  the  bonds  belonging  to  the  fund  in 
the  hands  of  the  Auditor  General,  to  be  kept  in  the  safe  of  the  Auditor 
Genei'al's  department;  and  that  the  quantity  of  scrip  sold,  amount  re- 
ceived therefor,  and  premium  paid  on  the  bonds  now  held  by  the  board 
were  as  follows,  viz  : 

Total  amount  of  scrip  sold,  two  hundred  and  sixt}^  thousand  acres. 
Total  cash  received  for  same, $151.l3fi  00 

Invested  as  follows : 
In  Penn'a  six  per  cent,  coupon  bonds,  war  loan,    ...        .      $18,100  00 
In  United  States  5-20  coupon,  new  issue, 126,000  00 


$144,100  00 
Premium  paid  for  $18,000  Pennsylvania  bonds.  .        '  $72  30 
Premium  paid  for  $126,000  United   States  5-20 

bonds, 6,625  00 

6,697  30 


$150,797  30 
Cash  on  hand,        338  70 


$151,136  00 


A  form  of  advertisement  for  the  sale  of  the  remaining  five  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  scrip  was  read  by  the  Surveyor  General, 
calling  for  proposals  up  to  the  loth  day  of  April,  at  twelve  o'clock,  m,, 
1867,  for  the  purchase  of  the  same. 

On  motion,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  form  of  advertisement  be  adoi)ted,  and  that  the  Sur- 
veyor General  have  the  same  published  in  at  least  one  paper  in  each  county 
of  the  State,  and  m  at  least  four  papers  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and 
the  city  of  Pittsburgh  respectively,  and  also  in  two  papers  in  Dauphin  and 
Lancaster  counties;  also,  that  he  have  printed  four  thousand  copies  of  the 
advertisement  in  form  of  circular,  for  distribution. 

On  motion,  adjourned.  J.  M.  CAMPBELL,  Secretary  pro  tern. 


Surveyor  General's  Office,  Harrisburg,  April  10, 1867. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  the  sale  of  agricultural  land  scrip  met  at  one 
o'clock,  p.  M. 

Members  present :  John  W.  Geary,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president ; 
J.  F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General ;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

The  board  proceeded  to  open  the  bids  for  agricultural  college  land-scrip. 
After  examining  all  the  proposals  offered,  the  board  awarded  the  scrip  in 
quantities,  and  at  the  prices  indicated,  to  the  following-named  persons; 
and  the  Surveyor  General  was  ordered  to  notify  the  parties  of  the  accept- 
ance of  their  respective  bids  : 


Leg.  Doc] 


Pennsylvania  State  College. 


131 


Names. 


ADJgl 


Number 
of  acres. 


Price  per 
acre. 


R.  M.  Manley,    .   . 
Samuel  M.  Kearn, 
Samuel  M.  Kearn, 
Joseph  Miller,    .   . 
William  H.  Cook, 
Robert  Mitchell,    . 
Jonathan  R.  Day, 
S.  R.  Newton,     .   . 
H.  M.  Guthrie,    .   , 
W.  J.  Mathews,     . 
Joseph  Krawl,    .   . 
George  Cryder,  .   , 
Alexander  Kennedy, 
John  H.  Addison, 
Jacob  Miller, 
Mary  R.  Jaclison,  . 
C.  Gemp,  .   .    . 

Samuel  Caldwell, 
Wesley  George, 
M.  A.  Hamilton,    . 
Joseph  8.  Rank,    . 
James  D.  Hamilton, 
Walter  Bell,    .    .   . 

C.  Long, 

C.  Long,  ... 

C.  Long, 

C.  Long,   .... 

E.  P.  Buriiit,  .    .   . 
W.  B.  Davis,    .    .    . 
James  P.  Hurst, 
Jeremiad  H.  Roach,* 

J .  R.  McCloskey  &  Harry 

S.  Thomson, 
Joseph  buftiijton, 
Isaac  Kaufman,  .   . 
David  Killinger, 
Samuel  Mook, 
John  Kirkpatrick, 

F.  A.  Deetrick,  . 
Henry  Pillow, 
Amos  W.  Ernlon, 
A.  E.  Reynolds, 
Cyrus  E.  Kemp,    . 
J.  A.  Clarkson, 
Philip  Long,    .   .   . 
John  Ewing,   . 
W.  A.  Gray,     .   . 
James  P.  Colborn, 
A.  Godswalk, 
Andrew  Bell,  .   .   , 
Philip  Hueston,     , 
A.  W.  lay  lor,     . 
R  A.  McCoy,  , 
A.  W.  Taylor,     .   . 
Daniel  Stroup, 
Alexander  M.  Lloyd, 
David  K.  Ramev,  . 
E.  Burket,    .   .\   . 
E,  Burket,       .   .   . 
John  Ewing,   .   .   . 

G.  McNeill,  .... 
W.  S.  Jackson,  .  . 
James  McGonigal, 
W.  A.  Guthrie,  .  . 
H.  S.  Corbet,  .  .  . 
Eli  E.  Kinzer,     .   . 


Canton,  Bradford  county,  Pa., 
Wilmore,  Cambria  county.  Pa., 
Wilmore,  t^anabria  county.  Pa., 
Wilmore,  Cambria  county.  Pa., 
Carlisle,  Cumberland  county.  Pa, 
Indiana,  Indiana  countj'.  Pa., 
Sparta,  Washington  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 
Washington,  Pa.,    .... 
Rossville,  York  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 

St.  Louis,  

Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 
Powell's  Valley,  Dauphin  county,  Pa, 
Long  Run,  Armstrong  county.  Pa., 
Long  Run,  Armstrong  county.  Pa., 
Western  Penn'a  Hospital,  Dixmont, 
Dixmont,  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 
Wilmore,  Cambria  county.  Pa., 
Limestoneville,  Montour  county,  Pa., 
Wilmore,  Cambria  county.  Pa., 
Summit,  Cambria  county.  Pa  , 
Shippensburg,  Pa.,  .    . 

Shippensburg,  Pa., 

Shippensburg,  Pa., 

Shippensburg,  Pa., 

Ashland,  Schuylkill  county.  Pa., 

New  Castle,  Lawrence  county.  Pa., 

Washington,  Pa., 

Erie,  Pa., 


Hickory,  Washington  county.  Pa., 
Kittanning,  Pa.,  .... 
Davidsville,  Somerset  county.  Pa., 
Manchester, 
New  Lebanon,  Mercer  county.  Pa.,    . 
Dixmont,  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 
Waterson's  Ferry,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 
Prospect,  Butler  county.  Pa., 
Clinton,  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 

Allentown,  Pa.,       

HoUidaysburg,  Pa., 

Allentown,  Pa.,  

Newburg,  Cumberland  county.  Pa. 
Washington,  Pa.,        ... 
New  Grenada,  Fulton  county.  Pa., 
Aaronsburg,  Centre  county,  Pa., 
Reemstown,  Lancaster  county.  Pa. 

Chicago,  Illinois, 

New  Bloomfield,  Perry  county.  Pa, 

Harrisburg,  Pa., 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,      .   .  .... 

Beaver,  Beaver  county.  Pa.,  .    . 
Johnstown,  Cambria  county.  Pa., 

HoUidaysburg,  Pa., 

Altoona,  Pa.,  

Arch  Springs,  Blair  county.  Pa., 
Arch  Springs,  Blair  county.  Pa  , 

Washington,  Pa., 

Clinton,  Allegheny  county.  Pa.,  . 
Kiskiminitas,  Armstrong  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa,,  .   . 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,      


160 
640 
320 
160 
640 
1,280 
1,600 
960 
960 
3,840 
160 
960 
21,120 
960 
800 
160 
160 
480 
800 
160 
160 
160 
160 
640 
640 
640 
640 
640 
160 
960 
640 

1,920 

2,000 
320 
24,000 
160 
648 
160 

1,600 
320 
320 

1,920 
320 
320 

6,720 
640 
640 
640 
35,200 
320 

1,280 
640 
640 
640 
640 
640 
640 
640 

1,280 
960 
160 
640 
640 
320 
320 


fO  57 
611 
56 
56 
60 
56 
55 
56 
56 
55 
56 
61 
55 
59 
56 
1  00 
1  00 
1  00 
75 
60 
63 
60 
60 
55 
57 
60 
62 
621 
60 
55 
81 

55 
60 
56 
55 

1  00 
80 
62 
56 
65 
75 
65 
62^ 
56 
55 
75 
57 
56 
55 
56 
55 
55£ 
55* 
55 
60 
60 
58 
65 
55 
60 

1  GO 
56 
57 
56 
59 


*  Not  taken.    See  letter  on  file. 


132 


Report  op  the  Committee. 


[No.  18, 


Namgs. 


Eli  E.  Kinzer,     . 
Isaac  (jr.  Parr,  .    . 
S.  B.  Donaldson, 
Barton  &  Sherman, 
Matthew  Patton, 
E.  Burket, 
William  N.  Reily, 
Thomas  S.  Reily, 
Gr.  F.  Lewis,     .   . 
C.  P.  W.  Fisler, 
E.  Burket,       .   . 
George  W.  Householder, 
Henry  Earle, 
William  P.  Thompson, 
Martin  Funk,  .   . 
John  H.  Sweeny, 
George  H.  Adams, 
G.  M.Nall,   .   .    . 
W.  A.  Fields,  .   . 
G.  McNull,       .   . 
Jacob  Higgins,    . 
Samuel  Newell, 
J.  D.  Reed,      .   . 
L.  M.  Turrel,  .   . 
David  Preston,    . 
George  Potter,    . 
George  Potter,    . 
Samuel  S.  Blair, 
Edgar  Waldon,  . 
John  P.  (Mothers, 
E.  M.  Bishop,  .   . 
James  E.  Scott,  . 
John  Loudon,     . 
P.  Wise,    ... 


^BDBESS. 


Harrisburg,  Pa.,      

New  Alexandria,  Westmorel'd  co..  Pa., 
(Joalmont,  Huntingdon  county,  Pa.,  . 
Afton,  Washington  county,  Minn.,     . 

Philadelphia,  Pa., 

Arch  Springs,  Pa., 

Bowlesburg,  Centre  county,  Pa.,  .  . 
Bowlesburg,  Centre  county.  Pa.,     .   . 

Detroit,  Michigan,  

Bowlesburg,  Centre  county,  Pa.,     .   . 

Arch  Springs,  Pa., 

Ray's  Hill,  Bedford  county.  Pa.,     .   . 

Philadelphia, 

Philadelphia, 

Wabash,  Wabash  county,  Indiana,  . 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  ..... 
304  Leacock  st.,  Allegheny  City,  Pa., 
Clinton,  Allegheny  county.  Pa.,  .   .   . 

Schuylkill  Haven,  Pa., 

Clinton,  Allegheny  county,  Pa.,  .    .   . 
Williamsburg,  Blair  county.  Pa., 
Waterson's  Ferry,  Clarion  county.  Pa., 
Enon  Valley,  Lawrence  county.  Pa., 
Friendsville,  Susquehanna  co.,  Pa.,   . 

Detroit,  Michigan, 

Altoona,  Pa., 

Altoona,  Pa., 

Hollidaysburg,  Pa,, 

Eagle  Rock,  Venango  county,  Pa., 

Keokuk,  Iowa., 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  

Tamaqua,  Pa., 

Altoona,  Pa., 

Harrisburg,  Pa., 


Number 
of  acres. 


320 
640 
160 
640 
320 
640 
320 
160 
37,760 
640 
640 

4,800 
320 
320 
160 
640 
320 
320 
640 
320 
320 
160 

2,560 

1,280 
48,000 
320 
320 
640 
160 
20,000 

1,280 

160 

640 

*300,000 


Price  per 
acre. 


10  61 
68 
60 
60 
75 
55 
60 
60 
55i 
651 
60 
55 
55i 
85 
55 
601 
60 
65 
56 
55 
65 
60 
58 
61 
55i 
58 
66 
60 

1  00 
56i 
60 

1  00 
56 
55 


*  More  or  less. 


The  following  bids  were  rejected,  and  the  Surveyor  General  ordered  to 
notify  them  accordingly. 


Names. 


William  H.  Johnston, 
H.  Reed,  ..... 
John  Douglas,  .  .  . 
Archer  &  Savil,  .  . 
A.  Van  Cleef,  .... 
W.  A.  Guthrie,  .  .  . 
James  Welsh,  .  .  . 
G.  W.  Miller,  .  .  . 
Samuel  Wallace,  .  . 
W.  J.  Mathews,  .  .  . 
S.  H.  Smith,  .... 
E.  H.  Sykes,  .... 
Daniel  R.  Davidson, 
Frederick  Owens,  .  . 
E,  W.  Brady,  .... 

C.  Long, 

C.  Long,        

Jesse  Brown,  .... 
George  W.  Groodrich, 
J.  C.  McClellan,  .  . 
P.  S.  Weaver,  .... 
A.  Sully,       


Addbkss. 


Pittsburgh,  Pa., 

Freeport,  Pa., 

Pittsburgh,  (box  641,)  Pa.,     .... 

Baltimore,  Maryland, 

Harrisburg,  Pa., 

Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa.,  . 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa.,  . 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa.,  . 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa.,  . 
Washington,  Pa.,    ... 

Johnstown,  Pa., 

Carlisle,  Pa.,      

Connellsvllle,  Fayette  county.  Pa., 
Allegheny  City,  Pa.,         ...... 

Brady,  Indiana  county,  Pa,,  .... 

Shippensburg,  Pa., 

Shippensburg,  Pa., 

Tarentum,  Pa., 

Aldenville,  Wayne  county,  Pa.,  .   . 

Freeport,  Pa.,       

Freeport,  Armstrong  county,  Pa.,  . 
Davenport,  Iowa, 


Number 

Price  per 

of  acres. 

acre. 

960 

?0  51 

1,280 

5U 

1,280 

50 

5,600 

60 

160 

50 

320 

51 

960 

51 

960 

53 

960 

54 

8,000 

50 

1,280 

50 

640 

50 

1,280 

50 

2,000 

60 

1,280 

50 

640 

60 

640 

62 

1,000 

50 

640 

50 

2,560 

62| 

2,560 

53i 

960 

60 

Ltg.  Doc. 


Pennsylvania  Statb  Collbob. 


183 


Edward  Wheelan, 
Davis  R  Smith, 
John  S.  Oleson,  .   . 
Valentine  Saxton, 
Isaac  Kaufman, 
H.  Thompson,  cash, 
H.  Thompson,  cash, 
James  W.  Brok,  . 
Isaac  J.  Cummings, 
George  Mosh,  care  James 

H.  Leech,  .  .   . 

John  K.  Kennedy,   . 
Isaac  S  ponsler,    .    . 
John  Q.  A.  Kennedy, 
W.  F.  Little,    .... 
Harry  White,  .... 

F.  B  Hill,    .   .    . 
Joshua  Davis,  care  James 

H.  Leech,  .   . 
James  McGonigal, 
P.  Templeton, 
R  A.  Moore,    .    . 
J.  H.  Robinson, 
J.  H.  Robinson, 
J.  F.  Wj-nkoop, 
Williani  Colder, 
George  H inkle, 
Alexander  M.  Lloyd, 
David  K.  Ramey, 
J.  P.  Sweeney,   . 
N.  W.  Ackley, 
John  M.  Corbett, 
R.  R  Kellogg,    . 
Edwin  Rodgers, 
John  Loudon, 
Samuel  McCune, 
Jacob  Barr,  .    . 
John  Higgins, 
James  Wilkins, 
John  Austin,   . 
Greorge  Potter, 
David  Preston, 
David  Preston, 
David  Preston, 
David  Preston, 
David  Preston, 
E.  L.  Bailey,    . 
George  W.  Goodrich, 

G.  F.  Lewis, 
G.  F.  Lewis, 


B.  F.  CJlarke,   . 
E.  Burket,    .   . 
J.  F.  Grove, 
J.  K.  Neflf, 
J.  W.  Guthrie, 
James  Mills,    . 
S.  H.  Smith,     . 
J.  R.  Gohen, 
Caleb  G.  Smith, 
G.  L.  Johnson, 
J.  F.  Mansfield, 
T.  J.  McCammon, 

C.  Long,  .  i 
A.  G.  &  D.  E.  Armstead,  I 
J.  Anderson  Moore,     .   . 
William  Hart,        .   .   .   .  | 
Isaac  Kaufman,      .   .   .    .  | 


Philadelphia,        

Wallace,  Chester  county.  Pa.,  .  .  . 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,      .   .  ... 

Granville  Summit,  Bradford  co..  Pa., 
Davidsville  Somerset  county.  Pa.,  .    . 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota, 

St.  Paul.  If  the  above  is  rejected,  then 
Dixmont,  Allegheny  countv.  Pa.,  .  . 
Butler,  Pa., *   .    .    .   . 


10,080 

960 

640 

160 

640 

16,000 

8,000 

960 

1,920 


New  Lebanon,  Mercer  county.  Pa.,  .  320 

Prospect,  Butler  county,  Pa.,  960 

Prospect.  Butler  county.  Pa.,    .   .    .    .  |  940 

Butler,  Butler  county.  Pa.,    .   .       .   .  j  940 

Service,  Beaver  county,  Pa., i  1,280 

Senate  Chamber,        640 

Reading,  Pa., 160 

New  Lebanon,  Mercer  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county.  Pa.,  .    . 
Kittanning,  Pa.,         ... 
New  Grenada,  Fulton  county,  Pa., 

Mercer,  Pa., 

Mercer,  Pa., .    . 

Franklin,  Pa., 

Harrisburg,  Pa., 

Millersburg,  Pa., 

Hollidaysburg,  Pa.,       

Altoona,  Pa., 

Clinton,  Allegheny  county,  Pa.,  .  . 
Dushong,  Sullivan  county.  Pa.,       .   . 

Strattonville,  Pa. 

Oshkosh,  Wisconsin 

South  Canaan,  Wayne  county.  Pa.,  . 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  .    . 

New  Washington,  Clearfield  co.,  Pa., 
Sterling  Run,  Cameron  county.  Pa., 
Williamsburg,  Blair  county.  Pa., 
Coalmont,  Huntingdon  county.  Pa.,  . 
Collamsburg,  Clarion  county,  Pa.,  .   . 
Altoona.  Pa.,  .       .  .... 

Detroit,  Michigan,  (conditional,) 
Detroit,  Michigan,  (conditional,)   .   . 
Detroit,  Michigan,  (conditional,) 
Detroit,  Michigan,  (conditional,)    . 
Detroit,  Michigan,  (conditional,)    .   . 
Harrisburg,  Pa., 

Aldenville,  Wayne  county.  Pa.,  .   .    . 
Harrisburg,  Pa., 

Harrisburg.    Any  portion  less  than 
whole,      .  .... 

New  York,  (conditional,)  .   . 
Arch  Springs,  Blair  county.  Pa., 
Sugar  Grove,  Warren  county.  Pa., 
Williamsburg,  Blair  county.  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county,  Pa., 
Strattonville,  Clarion  county,  Pa.,  .   . 
Johnstown,  Cambria  county.  Pa.,  .    . 
Armagh,  Indiana  county.  Pa.,         .    . 
Sugar  Grove,  Warren  county,  ... 

Box  287,  Pittsburgh,  Pa 

Darlington,  (withdrawn,) 

Collinsburgh,  Pa., 

Shippensburg,  Pa., 

Coudersport.  Pa.,       

St.  Clair  Hotel,  Pittsburgh,  .... 
Armagh.  Indiana  county.  Pa.,  .  .  . 
Davidsville,  Pa., 


640 

160 

800 

640 

460 

460 

10,000 

520,000 

16,000 

320 

640 

160 

1,280 

160 

5,120 

640 

640 

640 

320 

640 

160 

1,920 

320 

520,000 

320,000 

160, 000 

80,000 

64,000 

320 

1,280 

520,000 


100,000 
1,280 
160 
640 
960 
960 
1,280 
160 
320 
320 
160 
160 
640 
160 
160 
160 
640 


fO  50 
50 
50 
50 
60 
53| 
54 
50 
51 

50 
50 
50 
50 
52 
50 
50 

50 

54 

50 

51> 

53 

60 

50 

54i 

50 

50 

50 

50 

60 

51 

5U 

50 

51 

50 

50 

60 

50 

50 

51 

53i 

541 

54a 
54f 
54| 
50 
50 
54^V 

54i*oV 
65i 
50 
50 
50 
46 
47 
46 
45 
47 
45 
45 
45 
45 
46 
45 
45 
45 


134 


Report  of  the  Committee. 


[No.  1! 


Names. 


J.  Comstock,       

J.  H.  Robinson, 
William  Malion,    .    . 
A.  Foster  &  J.  Murphy, 
H.  G.  Lomison, 

G.  M.  Young, 

John  Ijoudon, 

John  Geiss,      .  ... 

Murphy  &  Poster,     .    . 
Josiah  C.  White,    .    . 
J.  H.  Kernott  &  J.  P.  llod- 

gers, 
M'illiam  H.  Johnson,  .    . 
S.  H.  Smith,    .    .    . 
David  Ellis.     .   . 
James  Gordan,  (ad.  Jas 

H.  Leech,)  .  . 
J.  Porter  Brown,  . 
Henry  Alleman,  , 
James  M.  Wolf,  . 
W.  C.  Gourdon,  . 
Philip  Mater,  .  .  . 
J.  Stuft. 

George  H.  Boggs, 
D.  C.  Larabee,    .   . 
P.  ,T.  Bartleson,  .   . 
Don  Stuart, 
Joseph  S.  Rank,    . 
J.  S.  Bergstresser, 
J.  Anderson  Moore, 
Hugh  Parker, 
M.  L.  Hitchcock,  . 
H.  Pillow,     .... 
J.  H.  Robinson, 
J.  R.  Quay,       .    .    . 
Frederick  Ramey, 
John  Grim,      .    .   . 
James  Taylor, 
Chambers  Templeto 
Mary  A.  Care,     . 
J.  H.  Kinter,  .   . 
J.  H.  Kinter,  .    . 
J.  H.  Kinter, 
Mrs.  Henrietta  Johnston, 
Mrs.  Henrietta  Johnston, 

8.  H.  Smith, 

John  Geiss, 

John  Geiss, 

J.  W.  Houston,  .  .  . 
Jason  Holchkiss,  .... 
R.  S.  Jameson, 

D.  W.  Osman, 

E.  H.  Sykes, 

Charles  C.  Jennings,  .  . 
Frank  Cooley,        .... 

R.  .1.  Wox 

S.  W.  Shepperd 

A.  L.  L.  R.  Price,  .  .  . 
J.  W.  Rurnberger,       .   . 

A.  S.  Price,      

J.  F.  Davis, 

J.  O.  Brown, 

W.  D.  Hume, 

J.  R.  P.  Brown,     .... 

L.  E.  Hill 

G.  H.  Boggs, 

Ijorain  Doeyle,  .  ... 
D.  C.  Glibben, 


Address. 


Baltimore,  Maryland, 

Mercer,  Pa., 

Darlington,  Pa., 

Johnstown,  Pa., 

Greensburg,  Pa., 

Braddock's  Fieldc,  Pa.,      .... 

Altoona,  Pa., 

Johnstown,  Pa., 

Johnstown,  Pa.,    ....... 

New  Castle,  Lawrence  county.  Pa., 

Callensburg,  Clarion  county,  Pa  ,  . 

Pittsburgh, 

Johnstown,  Pa  ,  

Indiana,  Pa ,        ... 

New  Lebanon,  A'ercer  county.  Pa., 
Tarentum  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 
Tyrone,  Blair  county.  Pa., 
Waterville,  Lycoming  county,  Pa., 

Blairsville,  Pa., 

Harrisburg,  Pa., 

Greensburg.  Pa.,  .  .   . 

Plummer,  Venango  county,  Pa., 
Coudersport,  Potter  county.  Pa.,     . 
69  Liberty  street,  Pittsburgh,       .   . 
Sugar  Grove.  Warren  county,  Pa., 
Limestoneville,  Montour  county.  Pa. 
Coalmont,  Pa., 

St.  Clair  Hotel,  Pittsburgh,  .  . 
Armagh,  Indiana  county,  Pa„  .  . 
Franklin,  Pa.,  .    . 

House  of  Representatives,  Pa., 
Mercer,  Pa., 
Beech  Creek,  Clinton  county.  Pa., 

Altoona,  Pa.,        

Darlington,  Pa., 

West  Pairview,  Westmorel'd  co.,  Pa., 
Brady '.s  Bend,  Armstrong  county.  Pa., 
Sugar  Grove,  Warren  county.  Pa., 

Indiana,  Pa.,  .    . 

Indiana,  Pa., 

Indiana,  Pa.,        

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  . 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  ....       

Johnstown,  Pa., . 

Johnstown,  Pa., 

Johnstown,  Pa.,  .       

New  Bloomtield,  Perry  county,  Pa., 
Blooming  Valley,  Crawford  co.,  Pa., 
Greensburg,  Pa.,        .  .... 

Callensburg,  Clarion  county.  Pa.,  .   . 

Carlisle,  Pa.,     .   . 

Easton,  Pa.,       ... 
Murdocksville.  Washington  co..  Pa., 
New  Bloomtield,  Perry  county.  Pa., 
Granville,  Centre  county.  Pa.,  .   . 
Port  Matilda,  Centre  county,  Pa., 
Port  Matilda,  Centre  county,  Pa., 
Port  Matilda,  Centre  county.  Pa., 
Port  Matilda,  Centre  county.  Pa., 
Tarentum,  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 
New  Germantown,  Perry  county.  Pa, 
Tarentum,  Allegheny  county.  Pa., 

Reading,  Pa.,        

Plummer,  Venango  county,  Pa., 
Sylvania,  Bradford  couTity,  Pa.,  . 
Franklin,  Venango  county.  Pa.,  . 


Number 
of  acres. 


16,000 
920 
160 
320 

2,560 
160 
640 

1,280 
320 

2,560 

480 

640 

1,280 

640 

640 

1,000 

1,920 

320 

640 

10,240 

10,000 

10,000 

1,280 

320 

320 

960 

160 

160 

160 

1,280 

640 

1,840 

640 

640 

640 

640 

2,400 

640 

320 

640 

1,280 

640 

640 

1,280 

1,280 

1,280 

640 

640 

1,280 

1,920 

320 

320 

480 

640 

40,000 

1,280 

1,280 

640 

1,280 

2,000 

1,000 

1,280 

10,000 

960 

1,120 


Lug.  Doo.J 


Pennsylvania  State  Colltqe. 


135 


Names. 


Address. 


Number 
of  acres. 


Price  per 
acre. 


J.  Anderson  Moore,  .  . 
J.  Anderson  Moore,  .  . 
Jos.  Langhlin  Marchall, 
J.  R.  Zimmerman,    .    .    . 

Seth  Johnson 

J.  H.  Robinson 

J.  H.  Robinson,     ... 

J.  H.  Robinson 

.Tason  Hotchkiss,  .    . 

William  A.  Prentias, 
Alexander  Woodward,  . 
John  Woodward, 
J.  R.  McAfee,  .   .   . 

Samuel  D.  iSorkley,  .  . 
J.  B  Guthrie,  .   .   . 

J.  C.  Hvers, 

F.  S.  Bailey, 

Luman  Putman,  junior, 


St.  Clair  Hotel,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  .   . 
St.  Clair  Hotel,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  .   . 

Davton, 

Beilefonte,  Pa 

Sugar  Grove,  Warren  county.  Pa., 

Mercer,  Pa., 

Mercer,  Pa., 

Mercer,  Pa., 

Box  118,  Blooming  Valley,  Pa.,  .  . 
Prentis  Vale,  McKean  county.  Pa., 
Walnut  P.  O.,  Juniata  coimty.  Pa., 
Walnut  P.  O..  Juniata  county.  Pa.,  . 
Greensburg,  Westmoreland  co.,  Pa., 
Sheridan.  Lebanon  county.  Pa.,  .  .  . 
Apollo,  A rmstrong  county.  Pa.,  .  .  . 
New  Washington,  Clearfield  co..  Pa., 
Granville  Centre,  Bradford  oo..  Pa.,  . 
Troy,  Bradford  county.  Pa., 


;i 


160 

160 

640 

1,280 

640 

3,780 

7,560 

15,120 

320 

160 

320 

960 

640 

320 

8,000 

2,540 

40,000 

40,000 


10  30 
35 
25 
10 

m 

35 

30 

25 

25 

10 

30 

25 

30 

25 

33i 

25" 

25 

30 


Harrtsburg,  Pa.,  June  S8,  1867. 

The  board  of  commissioners  met  this  day  in  the  executive  chamber. 

Present:  John  W.  Geary,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president;  John  P. 
Hartranft,  Auditor  General;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surv^eyor  General. 

The  award  of  three  hundred  thousand  acres  of  agricultural  land  scrip  to 
Peter  Wise,  Esq.,  was  declared  forfeited,  the  said  Wise  having  failed  to 
comply  with  the  terms  of  his  agreement  with  the  board. 

A  proposition  from  Mr.  G.  F.  Lewis  was  then  submitted  to  the  board, 
in  which  he  proposed  to  take  all  the  unsold  scrip  heretofore  awarded  to 
Mr.  Wise  at  fifty-five  cents  per  acre  ;  to  pay  for  forty-eight  thousand  acres 
at  this  date,  and  to  lift  and  pay  for  the  whole  of  it  in  fifty  days. 

The  proposition  of  Mr.  Lewis  was  accepted,  and  the  Surveyor  General 
ordered  to  transfer  the  scrip  upon  the  payment  of  the  purchase  money. 
On  motion,  adjourned.  J.  M.  CAMPBELL,  Secretary  pro  tern. 


Harrisburg,  Pa.,  August  7,  1867. 

Commissioners  for  sale  of  agricultural  college  land  scrip  met  this  day  in 
the  executive  chamber. 

Present :  John  W.  Geary,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president ;  John  F. 
Hartranft,  Auditor  General;  J.  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor  General. 

The  Surveyor  General  reported  to  the  board  that  all  the  scrip  had  been 
sold  and  the  money  received  for  the  same,  except  seven  hundred  and  Mty- 
five  pieces  of  the  amount  awarded  to  Mr.  Lewis,  and  which  would  be  lifted 
in  ten  dajs  or  two  weeks. 

The  Surveyor  General  was  authorized  to  invest  the  money  received  for 
scrip  in  Pennsylvania  bonds  of  1x67,  excepting  one  tenth  of  the  gross 
amount  received  on  all  the  scrip  donated  to  the  State. 

The  Surveyor  General  was  also  authorized  and  directed  to  return  to  Mr. 
P.  AVise  the  bonds  and  other  securities  forfeited  by  him  on  account  of 
non-compliance  with  the  terms  of  his  contract,  as  soon  as  Mr.  Lewis  will 
have  lifted  all  the  scrip  awarded  to  him  after  the  contract  of  Mr.  Wise  had 
been  declared  forfeited.     On  motion,  adjourned. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 

Secretary  pro  tern. 


136  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Habrisburg,  Pa.,  September  17,  1867. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  the  sale  oi  agricultural  college  land  scrip 
met  this  da}'  in  the  executive  chamber. 

Members  present :  John  W.  Geary,  Governor  and  ex  officio  president ; 
John  F.  Ilartranft,  Auditor  General ;  Jacob  M.  Campbell  Surveyor 
General. 

The  various  bills  for  publishing  proposals  for  sale  of  agricultui-al  college 
land  scrip  in  the  papers  of  the  State,  and  the  printing  of  circulars,  were 
presented  and  examined,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  the  sum  of  twenty- 
five  hundred  and  thirty-one  dollars  and  seventy-eight  cents,  ($2,531  78.) 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Surveyor  General  draw  his  warrant 
upon  the  treasury  for  the  amount,  and  pay  the  bills,  filing  his  vouchers  for 
the  same.     On  motion,  adjourned. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 

"  Secretary  pro  tern. 


Harrisburg,  February  12,  1868. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  the  sale  of  agricultural  college  land  scrip 
met  this  day  in  the  executive  chamber, 

Members  present :  John  W.  Geary,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president ; 
John  F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General;  Jacob  M.  Campbell,  Surveyor 
General. 

The  application  of  Moses  Thompson,  treasurer  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  was  presented  and  read, 
asking  the  board  of  commissioners  to  place  to  his  credit  the  sum  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  ($25,750,)  of  which  sum  it 
was  proposed  seventeen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  ($17,750) 
should  be  expended  in  the  purchase  of  an  experimental  farm  in  Chester 
county  ;  and  eight  thousand  dollars  ($8,000)  for  an  experimental  farm 
near  the  college  in  Centre  county. 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Surveyor  General  place  to  the  credit 
of  Moses  Thompson,  treasurer  of  the  trustees  of  the  Agricultural  College 
of  Pennsylvania,  the  sum  of  seventeen  thousand  seven  hundi-ed  and  fifty 
dollars,  ($17,750,)  to  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  the  experimental  farm 
in  Chester  count}' ;  and  that  action  upon  the  application  for  the  eight 
thousand  dollars  ($8,000)  be  postponed  for  the  present.  On  motion,  ad- 
journed. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 

Secretary  pro  tern. 


Harrisburg,  April  23,  188S. 

Board  of  commissioners  for  sale  of  agricultural  college  land  scrip  met 
this  day  in  the  executive  chamber. 

Members  present :  John  W.  Geary,  Governor  and  ex-officio  president ; 
John  F.  Hartranft,  Auditor  General ;  Jacob  M.  Campbell.  Surveyor 
General. 

An  opinion  of  Judge  Pearson,  president  judge  of  Dauphin  county  court 
of  common  pleas  and  quarter  sessions,  on  a  case  stated  by  the  trustees  of 
the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  board 
of  commissioners  on  tbe  other,  as  to  the  legality  of  paying  to  the  trustees 
the  eight  thousand  dollars  ($8,000)  to  be  applied  to  the  farm  near  the  col- 
lege, as  heretofore  asked  for  by  them,  was  read. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  137 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  opinion  of  Judge  Pearson  be  filed, 
and  that  the  Surveyor  General  be  authorized  to  pay  to  the  treasurer  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania  the  sum 
of  twentj^-six  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
($26,136  50)  being  the  balance  in  full  of  the  one  tenth  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  agricultural  college  land  scrip,  still  in  the  hands  of  the  board 
of  commissioners,  provided  that  the  said  treasurer  shall  specify  that  the 
above  sum  is  to  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  sites  for  experimental  farms. 
On  motion,  adjourned. 

J.  M.  CAMPBELL, 

Secretary  pro  tern. 

Professor  John  Hamilton,  recalled : 
By  Mr.  Alexander: 

Upon  request,  Mr.  Hamilton  produces  before  the  committee  deed  dated 
the  4th  day  of  August,  1857,  from  General  .James  Irv'in  to  the  Farmers' 
High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  for  a  certain  tract,  messuage,  tenement,  or 
tract  of  land,  situate  in  Centre  county,  containing  two  hundred  acres  of 
land,  be  the  same  more  or  less,  for  the  nominal  consideration  of  one  dollar, 
which  deed  is  recorded  in  the  office  for  recording  deeds,  in  and  for  Centre 
county,  on  November  6, 1857,  in  deed  book  "'Y,"  page  22. 

Also,  deed  from  General  James  Irvin  to  the  Farmers'  High  School  of 
Pennsylvania,  dated  the  4th  da}^  of  November,  1857,  for  two  hundred  acres 
of  land  in  Centre  county,  for  the  consideration  of  $12,000.  Recorded  in 
the  office  for  recording  deeds,  in  Centre  county,  November  5,  18r»7,  in 
deed  book  ''  Y,"  pages  20  and  21. 

Also,  deed  of  Thomas  M.  Harvey  and  wife  to  the  Agricultural  College 
of  Pennsylvania,  dated  the  I2th  day  of  the  2d  month,  1868,  for  one  hun- 
dred acres  and  thirty -three  perches  of  land  in  Chester  county,  for  the  con- 
sideration of  $17,750  0(».  Recorded  in  the  office  for  recording  deeds,  in 
Chester  county,  in  deed  book  "  P7,"  vol.  I,  page  870. 

Also,  deed,  or  declaration  of  trust,  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Penn- 
sylvania, dated day  of  May,  1868,  for  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in 

Centre  count}',  for  the  consideration  of  $8,000.  Recorded  in  the  office  of 
the  recorder  of  deeds  in  and  for  Centre  county,  in  deed  book  "D,"  No.  2, 
page  422. 

Q.  The  deed  for  the  Western  experimental  farm  you  have  not  received  ? 

A.  I  have  not  received  it.  I  wrote  to  Mr.  John  Banks  for  the  deed 
soon  after  I  discovered  that  it  was  not  in  the  file  that  I  had  ;  and  directed 
him  to  send  it  here,  but  it  has  not  arrived. 

Q.  Could  you  have  copies  of  these  deeds  made  and  submitted  to  this 
committee  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  1  can. 

Adjourned  to  meet  in  the  St.  Cloud  Hotel,  in  Philadelphia,  May  11, 
1882,  at  8  o'clock,  p.  m. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 

This  certifies  that  the  foregoing  (as  compared  and  corrected)  is  a  full 
and  accurate  copy  of  the  notes  of  testimony  taken  by  me  at  the  aforesaid 
meeting. 

J.  IRWIN  HAGERMAN, 
Stenographer  for  Committee. 
Bellefonte,  Pa.,  June  26,  1882. 


138  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

St.  Cloud  Hotel,  Philadelphia,  May  11,  8  o\;lock,  p.  m. 

The  sub- committee  met  as  above,  in  pursuance  of  the  adjournment  on 
March  22,1882.     Present:  Messrs.  Mylin,  Alexander.  Hall,  and   Roberts. 

Messrs.  Hewitt  and  Niles,  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were  present 
during  the  session. 

William  F.  Reber  was  sworn  with  uplifted  hand  as  stenographer,  in  the 
absence  of  Mr.  J.  Irwin  Hagerman. 

Professor  John  Hamilton,  of  the  college,  was  recalled  and  submitted, 
also,  a  statement  and  list  of  all  the  subscriptions  and  donations  to  the 
Agricultural  College.  The  following  persons  :  Lenord  Rhone,  head  master 
of  the  State  Grange  of  Pennsylvania ;  James  F.  Weaver,  who  had  been 
subpoenaed,  as  per  the  copy  herewith,  on  May  2,  1882,  to  be  and  appear 
before  the  sub-committee  at  this  session,  failed  to  appear. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  West  Grove,  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  to- 
morrow, 10,  A.  M.,  Friday,  May  12,  1882. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 


Meeting  of  the  State  College  legislative  committee,  held  at  the  St. 
Cloud  Hotel,  Philadelphia,  May  11 ,  1<'82. 

Members  present :  Senators  Mylin  and  Alexander ;  Representatives 
Hall  and  Roberts. 

Chairman  Myliji  calls  meeting  to  order.  Secretary  Hall  read  minutes 
of  the  last  meeting  of  the  committee. 

John  Hamilton,  recalled  and  examined  : 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Q.  Mr.  Hamilton,  have  you  in  the  possession  of  the  college,  as  its  busi- 
ness manager,  the  original  record  of  the  subscriptions  to  the  general  col- 
lege fund  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  have. 

Q.  Have  you  a  copy  correctly  taken  from  that  book,  showing  the  names 
of  the  persons  who,  and  the  amounts  of  money  subscribed  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  believe  it  to  be  correct.     I  believe  the  copy  I  have  here 
to  be  a  correct  copy  of  the  books,  although  I  did  not  compare  it  myself. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

It  is  more  a  matter  of  history  than  anything  else,  and  it  does  not  matter 
so  much  about  its  being  absolutely  correct : 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

It  goes  to  show  the  amounts  that  were  first  contributed  by  the  persons 
who  started  the  "  Farmer's  High  School." 

A.  Yes,  sir;  the  list  is  made  out  by  counties,  so  as  you  can  readily  tell 
where  the  persons  came  from  who  contributed. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  This  list  is  compiled  from  the  original  record,  is  it  ? 

A.  From  the  original  books ;  yes,  sir. 

Copy  of  subscription  list  and  donations  to  the  Pennsylvania  State  Col- 
lege by  the  citizens  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  and  other  States  made 
prior  to  I864- 

Allegheny  County. 

R.  C.  Walker — Proceedings  of  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural 
Societ}'  and  Independent  State  Societj',  four  volumes. 


Leg.  Doc]                 Pennsylvania  State  College.  139 

John  Murdock,  jr.,  eight  cherry  trees. 

J.  S.  Xegle}',  twenty-eight  select  verbenas,  cantanas,  fuchsias,  ger- 
aniums and  petunias. 
John  Murdock,  jr.,  one  dozen  seedling  strawberries. 
George  Thompson,  specimens,  paper  of  crushed  stalks  of  sorghum. 
W.  R.  Read,  one  dozen  Wilson's  Albany  strawberries. 
John  Murdock,  jr.,  four  hundred  American  arbor  vita?. 
James  S.  Negley,  twelve  varieties  cherries. 
G.  G.  Neglev,  collection  of  roses 

Georse  W.  Jackson,           $100  00 

Thomas   M.  Howe, 100  00 

I.  K.  Moorhead,        100  00 

H.  Childs,               50  00 

Alexander  Speer,        20  00 

Philip  R.  Kencaid,  . 10  00 

Berks  County. 

C.  Kessler,  twelve  varieties  scions  of  native  apples. 

George  Selling, 30  00 

Blair  County. 

R.  Waring,  fruit  tree  stock,  hedge  plants,  and  shrubbery. 

William  G.  Huyatt,  cornstock  cutter  and  grinder. 

R.  Waring,  one  thousand  scions  of  eleven  varieties  of  fruit,  six 

herbaceous  plants. 
R.  Waring,  four  strawberry  plants. 

Samuel  CaMn,                        50  00 

James  A.  McCahan,      .                50  00 

Samuel  S.  Blair, 25  OU 

Thaddeus  Banks, 25  00 

R.  McMurtrie, 25  00 

Thomas  C.  McDowell,              .    .                ...        25  00 

James  Kemp, 25  00 

D.  Caldwell, ~.        .    .    , 25  00 

Thomas  B.  Moore, 25  00 

H.  L.  Patterson,        25  00 

Joseph  Smith, 25  00 

Joseph  Irwine, 25  00 

J.  M.  Johnston,          .    .                25  00 

William  I.  Dysart, 25  00 

D.  C.  Irvin,  '             25  00 

John  Wean,         5  00 

S.  Hoover,          5  00 

Michael  Berrj', 5  OU 

J.  Wingate,             5  00 

J.  Mattern,                       5  00 

Frederick  W.  Olmes, 5  00 

Joseph  Fogle,                 5  00 

John  Cresswell,      5  00 

John  Halfpenny, ....  5  00 

A.  S.  Morrow, 5  00 

David  Henshey, 5  00 

Jacob  Bentlv, 5  00 

H.  A.  CaldWell,      ...        5  00 


140  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

James  Hutcheson, $5  00 

W.  Graham, 25  00 

0.  Hammonds, 10  00 

1.  D.  Leet,       •    •    •    •  10  00 

Centre  County. 

C.  H.  Struble, 50  00 

John  R.  Natcher, 5(1  00 

Piersol  Lytle, 25  00 

John  Homan, 10  00 

John  W.  Crumerine, 10  00 

David  Osman,                 10  00 

Robert  McFarland, 25  00 

William  Thompson, 25  00 

William  Foster, 25  00 

James  M.  Thompson 25  00 

R.  M.  Foster,              25  00 

John  Herman, 25  00 

Philip  Carper, 10  00 

John  Mays 5  00 

John  Bodle, 5  00 

Nathan  Corl,           5  00 

W.  L.  Sillers,  '        5  00 

George  E.  Wasson,        5  00 

Levi  Williams, 5  00 

John  Moore,           5  00 

William  McBath, 5  00 

William  Tate, 5  00 

William  F.  Thompson, , 5  00 

Henrv  Gross,      ...  5  00 

Thomas  Dale, 10  00 

Henry  Keller, 5  00 

James  Jack,                    5  00 

James  T.  Johnston, 5  00 

Reuben  Hunter, 5  00 

Jacob  Bottorf,        5  00 

James  Rhea,       5  00 

John  Coble,                        5  00 

Lawrence  P.  McEntire, 5  00 

George  Coble,  junior,        ....        5  00 

Joseph  Hoy,               10  00 

Moses  Thompson,      100  00 

Bernard  McClain, 100  00 

William  G.  Waring,          100  00 

James  and  E.  Chambers,      .    . 100  00 

Joseph  Mvers, 5  00 

Albert  Hoy,                . 20  00 

Henry  Pennington, 5  00 

Jacob  Cronemiller,    ....            5  00 

Sarah  Potter,              25  00 

George  Boal, 100  00 

Jacob  S.  Awl .    .  100  00 

A.  B.  Hoffman,       5  00 

John  M.  McCoy, 100  00 


Lbg.  Doc]                 Pennsylvania  Statb  Colleqb.  141 

James  Linii, $100  00 

Cyrus  T.  Alexander, 20  00 

Samuel  McWilliams,     .    .            10  00 

James  Dunlap,               5  00 

George  W.  McWilliams, 5  00 

W.  Z.  M.  Stewart, 20  00 

Daniel  Rhoads,      50  00 

Harvey  Mann,        50  00 

Jacob  Thomas,       50  00 

H.  Brokerhoff,                50  00 

William  T.  Valentine, 50  00 

William  Marshall, 50  00 

David  Weaver, 5  00 

Henry  Rothrock, 5  00 

James  M.  Wilson, 10  00 

George  Livingston,       10  00 

Mifflin  Gault, 10  00 

S.  McCoy,       10  00 

J.  B.  Butts 10  00 

Ira  C.  Mitchell, 10  00 

R.  D.  Cummings, 10  00 

D.  Mitchell, .    .  10  00 

John  Way, 10  00 

N.  Hillibush, 10  00 

Benjamin  Shrock,      10  00 

I.  Bufflngton,      10  00 

W.  W.  Brown, 10  00 

James  Linn, 10  00 

J.  B.  Mitchell,    .            10  00 

Kabello  and  Bayard, 10  00 

James  T.  Hale,               100  00 

H.  N.  McAllister, 100  00 

James  Bumside,         100  00 

B.  Valentine,           100  00 

William  Harris,             100  00 

Edward  Blanchard, f  iaa  aa 

Evan  Blanchard, )'  •""  "" 

William  A.  Thomas, ....  100  00 

E.C.Humes,      .            ...            •  ...  100  00 

W.  F.  Reynolds,                                        100  00 

G.  &  E.  Hastings,  per  P.  D.  Pruner, 100  00 

William  H.  Bible, 5  00 

T.  F.  Boalich, 5  00 

Edward  Brown, 5  00 

William  L  Stein, 5  00 

C.  Derr,                   •        .  5  00 

Charles  McBride,      ' 5  00 

S.  T.  Thompson, 5  00 

M.  P.  Crosthwaite, '...•■  5  00 

John  P.  Harris, 5  00 

M.  Waddle,                 5  00 

William  S.  Wolf,        5  00 

John  T.  Johnston, '    .    .    .    .  5  00 

John  Toner,                5  00 

George  Yeomans, 5  00 


142  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

William  L.  Baphile, 

Edward  Graham, 

Daniel  Derr,  

William  S.  Gilleleland, 

G.  W.  Thomas,  

Thomas  Burnside, 

David  Weaver, 

J.  B.  Awl, 

T.  R.  Knox,    ...  

David  Keller,      

D.  P.  Pruner,  

John  Hoy.  junior,      

Adam  Hoy,         .  

Thomas  M.  Buchanan,  

Francis  Jador, 

George  JSwartz, 

John  Hoffer,  

James  D.  Harris  &  Bro,, 

A.  S.  Valentine, 

Joseph  Ross, 

William  Baird,  jr., 

T.  R.  Reynolds', 

H.  B,  Treczuylny,      .    .  

John  Brachbill,       

J.  Montgomery, 

G.  H.  Weaver,  

James  H.  Dobbins, 

David  Bollinger, 

D.  R.  Boileau,        

Michael  Moyer, 

Samuel  Harris,   ....        

Jacob  Shrone, 

W.  S.  Tripple, 

J.  T.  Shugert, 

John  Rait,  

J.  P.  Barnhart, 

James  Hamilton, 

William  Riddle, 

David  Lamb. 

W.  M.  Murray,       

Samuel  Linn,      

Wilson  &  Bros.,  

William  McFarland,      50 

James  C.  Mauch, 

William  Smythe, 

John  Rockey, 

Michael  P.  Weaver,      

William  Allison,  junior, 

Simon  Yarger,  

John  McCalmont, .    . 

James  A.  McCalmont, 

William  Gerbrich, 

B.  Schmeltzer,        .    .  ' 

James  Fury. 

James  F.  Weaver 5  00 


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Leg.  Doc]                 Pennsylvania  State  College.         ,  143 

Jesse  Adams, $5  00 

Jacob  C.  Walker, 5  00 

C.  G.  Ryman,         ......: 5  OU 

C.  C.  Price,             5  00 

J.  Kidlelinger,        5  00 

Aaron  Parterage, 5  00 

James  Antes, .  10  Oo 

T.  M.  Hall, lu  00 

Joseph  Green, 10  00 

James  Alexander,      10  00 

William  McClellan, 10  00 

Abram  Humphry, 10  00 

George  Swartz,              lu  00 

William  Underwood, 100  00 

Jacob  Peters,              20  00 

John  I.  Thompson, 100  00 

J.  G.  Larimore,      / 5  00 

A.  F.  Boalick, , 5  00 

George  Hoy,           5  00 

William  Furey, 5  00 

J.  M.  Furey, 5  00 

S.  Stewart  Lyon, 20  00 

J.  Rollen,                5  00 

C.  H.  Kepheart, *.    .    .  5  00 

J.  M.  Kepheart, .  5  00 

David  Sellers, 5  00 

Samuel  Beaumont, 5  00 

P.  Benner  Waddle, , 5  00 

Jeremiah  Mays,      . 10  00 

P.  B.  Gray,                  5  00 

James  C.  VVilliams, 5  00 

Charles  R.  Foster, 10  00 

C.  Munson, 5  00 

B.  C.  Bowman,   .    .        5  00 

John  Morgan,         5  00 

Joseph  Jones, 5  00 

Edmund  Shaw,       5  00 

Robert  Hudson,         5  00 

Thomas  Morrow,           5  00 

William  Bagshaw, 5  00 

A.  Jackson, 5  00 

J.  F.  Stiner, .    .    .    .    '  5  00 

John  S.  Swartz, 5  00 

Martin  Brumgart, 5  00 

Conrad  Struble, 10  00 

Jacob  Struble, 20  00 

George  Shaeflfer, 10  00 

Thomas  Lesh,         10  dO 

Daniel  Lesh,        ....            10  00 

David  Kauffman, 10  00 

S.  P.  Gray,                  10  00 

James  Chambers,      10  00 

George  L.  Peters,          13  00 

Samuel  McKean,        10  00 

Andrew  Thompson, 10  00 


144  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Wmiam  P.  Fisher, $10  00 

Joseph  Iddings,         ... 20  00 

John  Hoy,  20  00 

Jacob  Harter, 10  00 

William  Levj-,       5  00 

Joseph  Comley,         5  00 

H.  N.  McAllister,  seed  of  grain. 

Mrs.  E.  Petrikin,  flower  seeds  from  Patent  Office. 

Dr.  A.  A.  Henderson,  500  plants  red  cedar. 

Dr.  Charles  G.  Reinhold,  copy  of  the  Farmers'  Promotion  Book. 

Samuel  Gilliland,  school  reports. 

Henry  Witmer,  one  half  bushel  white  club  spring  \^heat. 

Hon.  A.  G.  Curtin,  twenty-eight  \'olumes  Colonial  Records  and 

Archives  of  Pennsylvania. 
Jeremiah  Mays,  one  metal  plow. 

William  Q.  Waring,  his  pomologic  and  horticultural  collections 
of  varieties  for  the  nurseries,  arboretum,  gardens,  vineyard,  and 
orchard. 
Mrs.  Benjamin  J.  Berry,  a  collection  of  potted  plants  and  a  cone- 
work  frame  of  fruits — mumulusspeciosa,  schizanthus  primatus, 
thombergia,  summer,  fl.  g. ;  chrysanthemum,  pensie ;  a  grand 
fleur,  lobelia  crinus,clarkia  pulchella,  petunia,  cobea,  convolvu- 
lus, ninor,  and  fruit  frame  for  parlor. 
Mrs.  Lucy  Potter,  two  quarts  seed  of  silver  maple. 
J.  G.  Irvin,  gyroscope,  with  concentric  rings,  made  by  himself. 
Daniel  Fetters,  Indian  spear  head,  found  on  farm. 
H.  N.  McAllister,  two  young  dogs. 
B.  Erb,  six  California  mangmette. 
Rev.  C.  G.  Field,  thirty  copies  Common  Prayerbooks ;  one  copy 

ditto  pulpit. 
Samuel  Linn,  eighteen  volumes  encyclopedia. 
I.  K.  Shoemaker,  four  volumes  Memoirs  Philadelphia  Agricul- 
tural Society. 

Robert  Glenn, $25  00 

David  Kreps, 25  00 

George  Ard, 25  00 

J.  H.  Mitchell, 15  00 

Jacob  Stahly,    , 10  00 

Frederick  Krumrein,        10  00 

HtnryKrebs,  12  00 

Joseph  B.  Erb  &  Co., 10  00 

Jacob   Erb,  10  00 

Samuel  McWilliams, 10  00 

H.  McWilliams, .    .        10  00 

James  Dunlap, 10  00 

J.  R.  Smith,  10  00 

A.  Sample  &  Co., 10  00 

Thomas  P.  Patton, 10  00 

F.H.Moyer, 10  00 

JohnArchy, 10  00 

J.  B.  Mitchell, 10  00 

James  S.Ross,       .....         10  00 

John  M.  Cooper, 5  00 

John  Brett,    .    .' 5  00 

John  Bloom,       5  00 


Leg.  Doc]       Pennsylvania  State  College.  145 

S.  H.  Stover, $10  00 

Georse  Baily, 10  00 

J.  J.  Goheen, 10  00 

John  Stalker, 10  00 

James  Watt, 10  00 

John  Gardner, 10  00 

Hugh  Laurimore, 5  00 

Conrad  Reemy, 5  00 

John  Everhart, 5  00 

William  D.  Ross, 10  00 

J.  W.  Campbell, 10  00 

Robert  Gardner, 5  00 

George  Jack, 25  00 

James  Jack, 5  00 

Miles  &  Shaeffer, 5  GO 

Frederick  Meyers, 5  00 

J.  H.  Hahn, 5  00 

Daniel  Durst, 5  00 

S.  Van  Tries, 20  00 

William  Allison, 50  00 

William  I.  Wilson, 20  00 

H.  P.  Cadwallader, 10  00 

George  Graham, 20  00 

James  G.  Marshall, 20  00 

Joseph  Alexander, 20  00 

A.  Forseman, 20  00 

Henry  Witmer,      10  00 

William  Keller, 10  00 

John  H.Keller, 10  00 

James  Foster, 10  00 

Samuel  Huston,^ .  40  00 

Jacob  Arney,  ....•%. 10  00 

John  Emerick, 5  00 

James  Grove, 5  00 

John  Roush, 5  00 

Daniel  Wolf, 5  00 

Hosterman  &  Herlacher, 5  00 

Adam  Shaffer, 10  00 

George  Shaffer, 10  00 

John  Foster 60  00 

James  T.  Foster, 5  00 

P.  W.  McDowl, 6  00 

W.  H.  Blair 20  00 

Robert  H.  Duncan, 20  00 

Peter  Wilson, 20  00 

Jared  B.  Fisher, 5  00 

William  C.  Duncan, 20  00 

Charles  Cobum, 20  00 

John  Hosterman, 5  00 

John  Sankey, 10  00 

D.  Z.  Kline, 10  00 

Jesse  L.  Test, 15  00 

R.  B.  Wilson, 5  00 

Abram  Elder, 5  00 

F.  B.  Green, 5  00 

10— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


146 


Report  op  the  Committee. 


[No.  18, 


Gibson  &  Co., 


$10  00 


Seely  &  Barnhart,  .  . 
Henry  Barnhart,    .    .    . 

C.  &  I.  Curtin,  .... 
Benjamin  Liggett,  .  . 
John  Liggett,  .... 
Daniel  Kunes,  .... 
Simon  Lingle,     .    . 

T.  H.  Wilson,  .  . 
John  Brecklej,  .... 
I.  H.  Williams,  .  .  . 
Samuel  Beachdle,  .  .  . 
John  Beachdle,  .... 
Christian  Beachle,  .  . 
Jacob  Leathers,  .  .  . 
Samuel  B.  Leathers,  .  . 
Frederick  Malone,    ,    . 

John  Ilolter, 

Jacob  Baker, 

Balser  Weber, 
John  W.  Gardner,  .  . 
Christian  Bower,  .  .  . 
B.  A.  McMurray,  junior, 
Necars  Barns,  .... 
John  Nestterode,  .  .  . 
John  Chambers,  .  .  . 
G.  Otenkirk,  ... 

Francis  Alexander,    .    . 

J.  G.  Yeager, 

Joseph  Durst,  .... 
Robert  H.  Porter,  .  . 
Thomas  Hutchison,  .  . 
John  Lee,  .... 

Samuel  Spangler,  .  . 
Joseph  Jordon,  .... 
George  Hoffer,   .... 

Peter  Hoffer, 

Jacob  Finkle,     .... 

D.  A.  Ruhl, 

Jesse  Mauch, 

John  Reesman,  .... 
W.  L.  Musser,  .... 
John  V.  Foster,     .    .    . 

John  Smith, 

Robert  Smith,  .... 
Henry  Krumrine,  .    .    . 

John  Moyer, 

Jacob  Moyer,  ..... 
Amos  Alexander,  .  .  . 
Henry  Fiddler,  .  .  . 
Adam  Hosterman,  .  . 
Samuel  Haupt,  junior,  . 
Jonathan  Kreamer,  .  . 
George  Krape,  .... 
Michael  Ream,   .    .    .    . 


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Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  14t 

John  Harshbarger, $10  00 

Robert  Ross, 

Samuel  I.  Hering,  .... 

John  Rishell, 

George  Buchanan, 

Thomas  Wolf, 

John  Wolf, 

David  Gilliland, 

William  McMinn, 

John  Love, 

Christian  Shanks, 

Frederick  Leathers, 

Adanv  Decker, 

John  Garner,  ....  

John  Miller, 

John  Swarts, " 

Samuel  Pettit, 

B.  F.  Straw  &  Son, 

J.  H.  Tolbert, 

G.  B.  Shearer, 

Michael  Shafer,  senior, 

Henry  Beck, 

Simon  Beck, 

J.  C.  Zimmerman, 

David  Harshbarger, 

James  Gordon, 

Christian  Hoffer, . 

John  Bailey, 

John  Ross, 

Jacob  Eberhard, 

Peter  Hoy,      

John  Ishler, 

Cyrus  Wasson, 

J.  T.  Benner, 

John  Boal,  junior, 

Andrew  Housman, 

John    Crumrine, 

Jeremiah   Fasig, 

William  Bell, . 

Frances  McClain, 

Martin  Houser, , 

William  Blair, 

Martin  Corcoran, 

W.  W.  Burns, 

Robinson  &  Junkins, 

James  Logue, 

W.  R.  Zimerman, . 

Cyrus  Wasson, . 

D.  A.  Stuart, 

C,  Rimey, 

E.  W.  Erb 

James  T.  Stewart, .... 

Gen.  James  Irvin 1,000 

John  Irwin,  junior, 20  CO 

William  Riddle, 20  00 


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148                                  Report  of  the  Committee.  j"No.  18, 

John  P.  Packer,    ...        $20  00 

Thomas  Hughes, 20  GO 

Robert  Valentine, 20  00 

William  A.  Thomas, 20  00 

M.  T.  Millikin 20  00 

Jacob  D.  Valentine, ,    .  20  00 

R.  B.  Valentine, 20  00 

John  L.  Gray, 5  00 

Isaac   Gray, 5  00 

Jacob  Pottsgrove, 5  00 

John  Burkett, 5  00 

U.  H.  Burket, •    ■    • 5  00 

Henry  Adams, 5  00 

Jacob  Daniels,    . '  5  00 

William  Meyers, 5  00 

William  L.  Wilson, 5  00 

John  H.  Liver, 5  00 

A.  R.  Barlow, 5  00 

James  Cancen, , 5  00 

H.  H.  Rothrock, 5  00 

Samuel  Mattern, 5  00 

Jacob  Gray, 10  00 

Jesse  Richards, 10  00 

Robert  Elder, 10  00 

John  Thompson, 10  00 

John  Rowin = 10  00 

John    Copenhaver, 10  00 

John  Glenn, 10  00 

James  Logue, .  25  00 

Samuel  Linn,  Esq.,  eighteen  volumes  encyclopedias. 
H.  N.  McAllister,  one  solar  table  lamp. 

G.  Gates 20  00 

Thomas  M.  Way, 20  00 

James  Ross,       10  00 

Christopher  Gates,       10  00 

James    Gates, 10  00 

Joseph  M.  Way,    .' 10  00 

Isaac  Wrye, 10  00 

John  Wilson, 10  00 

Christ.   Buck, 10  00 

Daniel  Beck, 15  00 

James  Love, 5  00 

C.  C.  Way, 5  00 

Samuel  Spencer, 5  00 

David  Ray, 5  00 

Christopher  Marshell, 5  00 

Isaac  Way 5  00 

James  McKee, 5  00 

Samuel  Rider, 5  00 

Joseph  Evis 5  00 

Samuel  Downing, 5  00 

Amos    Clemson, : 5  00 

C.  B.  Callahan, 50  00 

Andrew  Gregg, 42  00 

Robert   Way, 20  00 


f/TT  y  1  "^7  ^  y^  or  m  Tri 

Leg.  Doc]                   Pennsylvania  State  College.    \V          *  1**  1  '1  J 

Frank  McClain, ^^i'Pv^Sv' 

John    Williams, 

William  B.  Galbraith, .  5  00 

Harry  Hippie, 5  00 

Samuel   Sigle, 5  00 

Lewis  A.  Miller, 5  00 

John  P.  Burrows, 5  00 

H.Forbes, 5  00 

H.  McClain, .    .  5  00 

Charles  Glenn, 5  00 

Thomas  J.  Lee, 5  00 

C.  B.  Calahan , 10  00 

Harry  C.  Worral, 5  00 

Isaac  R.  Little, *.    .    .    .  5  00 

John  C.  Stover, 5  00 

Patrick  Campbell, ' 5  00 

Patrick  McNamara, 5  00 

Thomas  Mulchanic, 5  00 

Henry  Bums, 5  00 

Edward  Dowling, 5  00 

Charles  W.  Lambert, 10  00 

David   G.  Ralston, 10  00 

Nelson  Williams, 5  00 

James  Singleton, 5  00 

James  B.  Williams, 5  00 

John  Rowin,       5  00 

George  Rowin, 5  00 

Samuel  L.  Potter, 5  00 

Henry  Pritchard , 5  00 

James  Pritchard , 500 

H.  N.  McAllister, 500  00 

John  Goheen, 5  00 

Thomas  Mays,  .    ,    •    • 10  00 

Hugh  Laurimore, .    .    .    . 10  00 

D.  G.  Bush, 5  00 

Dr.  J.  M.  Thompson,  eight  volumes  books,  Loudon's  Botanical 

Dictionary,  and  Lawson's  Agricultural  Manual. 

Samuel  Gilliland,  one  copy  legislative  rules. 

Peter  Schultz,  specimen  of  wild  duck,  drake,  handsomely  feath- 
ered. 

Mrs.  Hess,  roots  and  bulbs,  ten  species. 

Capt.  W.  W.  Potter,  specimen  copper  ore.  Lake  Superior. 

H.  N.  McAllister,  varieties  of  potatoes. 

Chester  County. 

Josiah  Hoopes,  box  of  cuttings  of  Isabella  grapes  and  plants  of 

new  raspberries  and  grapes. 
Dr.  J.  K.  Eshleman,  scions,  new  pairs,  150  willows,  scions  of 

Klaproth  apple. 
Samuel  S.  Denny,  two  hand  corn-planters,  with  three  and  four 

tubes. 
J.  K.  Eshelman,  report  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society.  . 
Dr.  E.  Pugh,  apparatus. 


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150  Report  of  the  Committee.  fNo.  18, 

Joshua  P.  Eyre,  two  pecks  seed  Buckeye  potatoes,  seven  pecks 

true  Jersey  peach  blossom. 
Dr.  J.  F.  Evans,  seeds  Cassabar  melons. 
Dr.  Evan  Pugh,  sundry  balances  due  on  account  and  articles  of 

apparatus  amounting  to  ....    $695  96 

S.  M.  Pennock  &  Co.,  $100  00,  payable  in  a  grain  drill  and  corn 

sheller, .'•  .  

George  Brinton, 

Abraham  Gibbons,  $50  00,  payable  in  a  share  Chester  County 

Agricultural  Society  stocks, 

Milton  Conrad, 

Job  H.  Jackson,         

James  Atwood, 

Isaac  Hayes, 

Benjamin  J.  Passmore, 

William  D.  Lug, 

Jacob  Pennel, 

Zibbins  Gray, 

Dr.  T.  P.  Gibbon, 

Clearfield  County. 

George  Thorn,  Mexican  potatoes,  Poland  oats,  potato  oats,  vege- 
table seeds. 

George  Thorn,  bulbs  dioscorea  and  chufus. 

F.  A.  Fleming,  honey  cantaloupe,  long  Brickly  cucumber,  early 
green  cluster. 

F.  A.  Fleming,  seeds. 

Clinton  County. 

Conrad  Long 100  00 

L.  A.  Maekey, 50  00 

G.  H.  Halenbake, 50  00 

Alexander  Reed,  >  pin  nn 

Peter  Dickson,      f '^^  "" 

Abrams  &  Furst, 50  00 

S.  Richard  Peale, 50  00 

William  Parsons 25  00 

A.  G.  Crowell,        25  00 

J.  Grafius, 25  00 

C.  A.  Mayer, 25  00 

B.  Rush  Petrikin, 25  00 

Thomas  Bridgens, 20  00 

Nathaniel  Hanna,      20  00 

J.  W.  Packer, 10  00 

P.  T.  Dickinson, 10  00 

H.  T.  Beardsley, 10  00 

R.  M.  Winslow, 10  00 

William  Fearon,  junior, 10  00 

Chatham  &  Deise, 10  00 

S.  M.  Bickford,          10  00 

Proctor  Meyers, 10  00 

B.  H.  Fredericks,      10  00 

T.  C.  Kintzing, 10  00 

A  C.  McKinney,       10  00 

John  A.  Brutzman, 6  00 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  CoLLEaB.  151 

J.  P.  Hilling, $5  00 

R.  R.  Bridgens, 

J.  W.  Smith, 

John  Meyers, 

John  S.  Furst, 

Samuel  Kryder, ■.    . 

William  Dunn, 

Bethel  Hall, 

A.  H.  Best, 

Joseph  F.  Qua}'^, 

George  Worick, 

Griffin  Rote, 

George  Y.  Beatter, , 

Samuel  Bridgens, 

Levi  Williams, 

David  Allison, 

William  Meyer, 

George  Furst, 

Robert  Hays, .^ ... 

Cline  Quigley, 

S.  Strong,  (wheat  fan,) 

James  David, 

Anthony  Kleckner, 20  00 

George  A.  Achenbach, 

Jacob  Karstetter, 

Simpson,  Shank  &  Co., 

William  Baird 

William  T.  Baird, 

Benjamin  Wheaton, 

J.  T.  Stephenson, 

J.  W.  Quiggle, 

Hugh  Deobiing, 

W.  S.  Woods, 

R.  T.  Curns, 

A.  Jackson  Quigley, 

G.  W.  Welsh,      

Samuel  Richards, 

John  Watson, 

R.  B,  Browtt,      

Joseph  Doebling, 

Daniel  Royer, 

Hugh  White,  junior, 

Lemuel  Watson,         

James  L.  Watson, 

B.  H.  Watson, 

Samuel  Watson,    .... .    . 

Gideon  Domblazer,       

William  A.  White, 

W.  C.  Sanderson,       

J.  G.  Lebo, 

H.  L.  Dieffenbach,  plants  and  papers. 

H.  E.  Shoemaker,  scion  Antis  pear,  2  trees  Ellen  peach,  seeds 

large  French  pumpkin. 
Hon.  Allison  White,  seven  pkts.  seeds  vegetables  from  Patent 
Office. 


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152  Report  of  the  Committee.  f^o,  18, 

Hon.  H.  L.  Dieffenbach,  public  documents  and  pamphlets. 

Hon.  Allison  White,  Patent  Office  Reports  for  1856,  and  five  seeds 

grasses,  Patent  Office. 
William  Meyers,  scions  of  spring-house  apples. 

Allison  White, $50 

D.  K.  Jackman, 

A.  C.  Noyes,      

Robert  McCormick,  ...  

S.  H.  &  N.  W.  Fredericks,  (in  fire-brick,) 

W.  H.  Brown, 

John  Smith, 

Hugh  White, 

L,  T.  Fearon, 

John  T.  Fearon, 

Samuel  H.  Brown, 

W.  W.  Brown, 

Henrv  C.  Brown, 

John"^W.  Best, 

Jacob  Van  Nieda, 

G.  B.  Herr 

Andrew  White, 

William  Huff, 

H.  L.  Welsh 

John  Snodgrass, 

Joseph  McMicken, 

Samuel  Wolf, 

Martin  Herry, 

John  W.  Eldred, 

H.  B.  Amerling, 

Ira  Mason, 

Joseph  Whitefield, 

Samuel  Hays, 

George  G.  Haagen, 

William  H.  Fearon, 

John  S.  Mason .    . 

Abraham  Rockey, 

James  D.  Counsil,     .    .    .    , 

John  Chatham,  . 

M.  Byerly, . 

John  Staver, 

William  Richey,    ...  

Isaac  Ramage, 

Jonathan  Mo^'er, 

George  Hopson, 

John  Sm3'th, 

Simon  Cameron,     .        . 

Stillman  Keyes, 

Cumberland  County. 

Frederick  Watts 500  00 

John  S.  Sterrett, JO  00 

George  W.  Sheaffer, 10  00 

William  Gleim, 5  00 

Abraham  Bradley, 5  00 


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Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  153 

John  Mnnro, |5  00 

John  AV.  Craighead, 5  00 

Benjamin  K.  Peffer, 5  00 

Cumberland  Agricultural  Society, 500  00 

Dauphin  County. 

A.  Boyd  Hamilton,  1  set  Proceedings  State  Agricultural  Society, 

(three  volumes.) 
J.  Winebrenner,  combined  clod-crusher  and  roller,  Gourly's. 
Commonwealth,  per  H.  L.  Dieffenbach,  a  copy  of  Prof.  Rogers' 

Geological  Map  and  Report. 
H.  C.  Hickock,  a  copy  State  Superintendents'  Report,  (1858.) 

J.  Criswell, 10  00 

A.  0.  Hiester 500  00 

J.  P.  Rutherford, 25  00 

Delaware  County. 

Sundry  collections  in  the  different  townships,  paid  in  by  Joshua 
P.  EyrPi  (collected  by  A.  P.  Morgan  and  Joshua  P.  Evre, 
juniof,) \    .      220  00 

Dr.  A.  O.  Elwyn,  1  black  terrier  dog,  imported. 

Dr.  A.  0.  Elwyn,  Minutes  Proceedings  Philadelphia  Society  for 
Promoting  Age,  1785-1810,  and  1854-5-6. 

John  G.  Henderson. 

Daniel  Abraham. 

Thomas  Adams. 

Lewis  Booke. 

Thomas  Broomall. 

Jesse  Brook,  junior. 

Robert  Beatty. 

Benjamin  X.  Brook. 

Alexander  Brook. 

Charles  Bittle. 

Joseph  B.  Harding. 

Joaquim  Bishop. 

Wilson  Baldwin. 

John  Coboum. 

John  Connor. 

Thomas  Davis. 

Simeon  M.  Dutton. 

Yanleer  Eacher. 

Samuel  Edwards. 

John  Evans. 

Isaac  H.  Evans. 

Yirgil  T.  Eacher. 

James  Evans. 

L  H.  Childs. 

George  Hyselman. 

William  G.  Hoskins. 

Robert  Hough. 

William  Hennis. 

Joseph  R.  Hoskins. 

Hoffman  Johnston. 

Samuel  Jones. 


154  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Ann  Siter. 

Anderson/Kirk. 

Charles  Leedom. 

Silas  Leedom. 

Benjamin  Kirk. 

George  L.  Kirk. 

Joseph  Lawrence. 

John  H.  Moore. 

Elisha  Moore.      • 

John  E.  Morgan. 

Enoch  Matlock. 

John  Muther. 

Samuel  McKey. 

Daniel  Gyger. 

Joseph  L.  Worrall. 

Isaac  Palmer. 

Thomas  R.  Retty. 

George  Righter. 

Mark  and  Benjamin  Brooke. 

Hiram  Cleaver. 

Jacob  Sinneff. 

Edward  B.  Wetherell. 

Peter  Pechin. 

Owen  Brooke. 

Lawrence  Ramey. 

Nathan  Stetson. 

Joseph  Worrall. 

James  Patchel. 

Enoch  Leedom. 

Thomas  Pratt. 

Min  shall  Painter. 

Nathan  Yarn  ell. 

Robert  Johnson. 

Hon.  James  Andrews. 

Hugh  Tyler. 

Lewis  Miller. 

Pratt  Bishop. 

Washington  Bishop. 

Thomas  Bishop. 

Benjamin  Evans. 

Emmor  E aches. 

Nathan  Evans.  ' 

John  J.  Rowland. 

Thomas  Reece.  , 

Hannah  M.  Miller. 

R.  C.  Fairlamb. 

Azariah  Williamson. 

John  C.  Beatty. 

Lewis  Palmer. 

Jackson  Lyons. 

Abraham  L.  Pennock,  junior. 

H  Garrigues. 

Alexander  Scott. 

Joseph  Engle. 

Robert  Hannum. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  155 

J.  Engle  Hinkson. 

J.  P.  Eyre. 

Patrick  Kelley. 

John  Broomall. 

Lewis  Watkins. 

C.  C.  Sellers. 

Abram  Powell. 

George  Smith. 

Joseph  Powell, 

John  Sellers. 

Charles  Garrett. 

Joel  Davis. 

William  Bryan. 

Edward  Garrett. 

Isaac  P.  Garrett. 

Nathan  Lukins. 

Abram  L.  Pennock. 

John  Hawkins. 

Joel  Bishop. 

Obom  Lewis. 

Thomas  E.  Bennett. 

Thomas  J.  Reed. 

Joseph  Fell. 

William  H.  Grubb. 

Jonathan  C.  Larkin.  * 

Samnel  B.  Smith. 

Abram  P.  Morgan. 

Chalkley  Harvey. 

Lewis  P.  Harvey. 

Joseph  P.  Harvey. 

Nathaniel  Ring. 

Mordecai  Lewis. 

Jacob  G.  Kitts. 

Townsend  Speakman. 

Ziba  Darlington. 

Captain  John  Finsley.  « 

Captain  Ruel  Talbott. 

The  above  list  of  sixty-three  names  was  forwarded  by  Joshua  P.  Eyre. 
The  amounts  by  each  are  not  given,  but  the  aggregate  is  $242  50. 

Erie  County. 

Thomas  Evans,  seeds  of  Etrurian  wheat. 

Girard  Union  Agricultural  Society , $100  00 

Erie  County  Agricultural  Society, 100  00 

James  Miles,  (nomination,) 500  00 

Fayette  County. 

D.  Shellenberger,  one  paper  Egyptian  spring  rye. 

Huntingdon  County. 

William  P.  Orbison, 20  00 

F.  H.  Lane, 20  00 

Jacob   Creswell, 10  00 

James  Gwinn, 20  00 


156                                   Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

B.  E.  McMurtrie,  .    .    , $20  00 

G.W  Jackson, 10  00 

Theodore  H.  Cremer, 10  00 

A.  P.  Wilson, 10  00 

James  Maguire, 10  00 

R.  Bruce  Petrikin ,    .    . 10  00 

A.  W.  Benedict, 10  00 

George  Taylor, 10  00 

J.  George  Miles, 10  00 

David  Blair, 10  00 

Eleanor  Orbison, 10  00 

Samuel  T.  Brown, 5  00 

John  W.  Mattern, 5  00 

Graffus  Miller, .    .  5  00 

John  Scott, 5  00 

William  Dorris, junior,     ...                5  00 

D.  Caldwell, 5  00 

John  McCullock 5  00 

Joshua  Greenland, 5  00 

W.  E.  McMurtrie, 5  00 

Henry  Glazier, 5  00 

J.  Simpson  Africa, 5  00 

Charles  H.  Miller, 5  00 

James  Steel, 5  00 

William  Colon, 5  00 

George  W.  Garrettson , 5  00 

J.  B.  Leeden.             5  00 

Jonathan  H,  Dorrey, 5  00 

John  A.Whittaker, .    .  5  00 

John  F.  Ramey, 5  00 

R.  A.  Dorsey,        5  00 

N.  Williams,       5  00 

John  R.  McCahan, 20  00 

John  Rentmire, 5  00 

H.   Hamilton, 20  00 

J.  S.  Isett, 20  00 

David  Tussey, 10  00 

G.M.Thompson, 5  00 

James  Henderson, 5  00 

Samuel  Miller, 5  00 

William  McNite, 5  00 

Peter  Shaffer, ' 5  00 

A.  Harnish, 10  00 

John   Brewster, 5  00 

R.  M.  Burney, 10  00 

Daniel  Neff, 5  00 

Henrv   Graffeis, 10  00 

JohnPorter, 10  00 

Israel  Graffees, 10  00 

J.  R.  Wilson, 5  00 

W.  B.   Smith, 5  00 

Thomas  E.  Orbison, 20  00 

J.  R.   Lowrie, 10  00 

Jonathan  Mc Williams, 10  00 

George  W.  Speer, 10  00 


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Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  157 

R.  F.  Patton,     .    . $10 

J.  N.  Creswell, 

R.  B.  Wigrton, 

Lee  T.Wilson,  . 

George  Jackson , 

G.  W.  Johnston , 

John  Jackson,    . • 

John  Owens, -    •    • 

Bernard  Lorenz, 

Theodore  II.  Cremer,  seeds  of  spring  wheat  and  Chinese  sugar- 
cane of  his  own  growth. 

George  C.  Bucher,  plants  of  ConeordNgrape  and  new  strawberries. 

James  S.  Barr,  Worcester's  Comprehensive  Dictionary. 

George  C.  Bucher,  plants  of  Peabody's  Hautbois  and  Scott's  seed- 
ling strawberry. 

J.  Simpson  Africa,  Senate  Documents. 

Geoige  C.  Bucher,  scions  Hovey  cherry,  cuttings  Concord  grape. 

J.  Simpson  Africa,  a  copy  of  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools  of  Pennsylvania,  1858. 

James  McCartney,  Hunter's  improved  metal  plow. 

John  C.  Watson, 

J.  Henderson, 

Daniel  Teagen, 

Eli  Wakefield, 

John  R.  Hunter, 

James  Oliver, 

Hugh  Seeds, 

J.  B.  Givin, :    .    .    . 

Henry  Neff, 

Richard  Ashman,      

William  Moore, 

M.  F.  Campbell, ; 

George  Rudy,     .    .        .        

R.  J.  Massey, 

A.  Creswell, 

James  Gardner, 

Thomas  F.  Stewart, 

Jacob  H.  Knode, 

Jesse  Henrv, 

R.  C.  McGill, 

Jonathan  Rhule, 

H.  Orlady, 

Indiana  County. 
Frederick  Pfeiffer,  three  German  prune  trees  and  curculis  remedy. 

Juniata  County. 

R.  W.  Jamieson,  one  metal  plow  and  three  shares,  (a  handsome 
implement.) 

Lawrence  County. 

Harbeson  Bros.,  scions  of  new  native  apples. 


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168  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Lancaster  County. 

J.  M.  Summy,  scions  of  seven  pears. 

Jacob  B.  Garber,  many  rare  seeds  of  vegetables  and  of  shrubs. 

Jacob  B.  Garber,  from  the  territories  on  the  Pacific,  Oregon,  Yew, 

Perfume  Shrub,  &c. 
Jacob  B.  Garber,  two  seed  beans. 
Jacob  B.  Garber,  two  quarts  seed  Chinese  sugar  cane,  and  one 

quart  varieties  Japan  beans. 
Casper  Hiller,  scions  of  apple. 
J.  B.  Garber,  seed  of  Chinese  cane. 
J.  B.  Garber,  seeds  from  Utah,  and  books. 
J.  B.  Garber,  seeds  evergreens  from  Oregon,  &c. 

Lebanon  County. 

Samuel  Miller,  eighteen  vegetable  seeds,  eight  strawberry  and  six 
flower  plants,  one  Louisa  grape. 

Lycoming  County. 

J.  M.  McMinn,  scions  Tompkins  and  King  apples. 

Charles  Lloyd, $50  00 

A.  Updegraff, .    .  50  00 

F.  S.  Peterman,      . 25  00 

John  H.  Hayes,      25  00 

G.  W.  Youngman, 20  00 

Robert  Fleming, 20  00 

James  Armstrong, 20  00 

J.  W.  Maynard, 20  00 

James  Gamill, 20  00 

James  Wilson, 20  00 

A.  Davidson,       ">  Copy  from   orig-  ( 10  00 

George  Tomb,      >■      inal    hands    of-< 10  00 

J.J.Sanderson,)      Ja.  Wilson.         (       10  00 

Jonathan  Daughenbaugh, 5  00 

William  W.  Willard, 5  00 

Luzerne  County. 
Gerald  Howatt,  six  varieties  of  cucumbers. 

Mercer  County. 

James  A.  Nelson,  scions  of  New  England  apples  and  native  peaches. 
James  A.  Nelson,  tubes  of  Chufa  and  scions  of  sweet  Rambo  and 
other  sorts. 

Mifflin  County. 

A  Harshbarger,  pawpaw  and  persimmon  trees. 

A  Friend  of  Agriculture,  (per  Judge  Hale,) $50  00 

E.  E.  Locke, 50  00 

W.  Reed,         50  00 

James  M.  Brown, .    .  50  00 

George  W.  Elder, 20  00 

F.  J.  HoflTman,        20  00 

W.  A.  McManigle, 20  00 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  159 

A.  Harshbarger, $20 

Samuel  J.  Woods, 

John  McDowells, 

Robert  J.  McNill, 

T.  W.  Moore, 

D.  W.  Woods, 

Joseph  Alexander, 

J.  S.  Wilson, 

James  Turner, 

W.  Russell, 

Casper  Dull, 

John  R.  McDowell, 

Thomas  E.  Williams, 

John  Taylor, 

Samuel  Maclay, 

Joseph  Haron, 

Samuel  McClay, 

D.  Conterer, 

E.  L.  Benedict, : 

F.  G.  Franciscus, 

James  S.  Galbraith, 

Samuel  Comfort, 

Daniel  Albright, ... 

John  A.  Ross,  

George  Blymeyer, 

Jacob  Mutthersbaugh, 

J.  A.  Murray, 

John  Atkenson, 

Zebulon  Philips, 

James  Byle, 

Samuel  Millikin,    . 

James  Thompson, 

M.  R.  Thompson, '  .    . 

Peter  Barefoot, 

John  A.  Sterett, 

John  B.  Selkeimer, . 

J.  W.  Hackenburg, 

M.  T.  Mitchell, 

Samuel  B.  Haines, 

George  H.  Calbraith, 


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00 

80 

00 

Philadelphia  County. 

Thomas  Meehan,  trees  of  14  kinds  of  arboretum. 

Thomas    P.   James,  proceedings  of  second   and   third   sessions 

American  Pomological  Society. 
Dr.  William  D.  Brinckle,  scions  of  various  new  fruits. 
Samuel  Emlen,  agricultural  pamphlets. 

Philip  R.  Freas,  sends  the  Germantown  Telegraph  from  date. 
French,  Richards  &  Co.,  five  hundred  pounds  purine  for  trial. 
William  L.  Boyer  &  Brother,  Climax  grain  fan. 
J.  McGowan,  books  and  grains. 
Prof.  James  C.  Booth,  Method  of  Reducing  Bones. 

Andrews  &  Dixon, $26  62 

Arnold  &  Wilson, 50  00 


160  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

William  L.  Bojer  &  Brother,  ..,.••• $40  00 

William  L.  Boyer  &  Brother,  (for  discount  on  Coleman  mill,)    .  20  00 

Andrews  &  Dixon,  (discount  on  bill,) 61  00 

J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co., 50  00 

Henry  S.  Barr,   . 50  00 

ScHtjyLKiLL  County. 
J.  S.  Keller,  three  plants  white  blackberry.  « 

Union  County. 
Warden  &  Cornelius,  copy  of  Lewisburg  Chronicle. 

Virginia. 

H.  R.  Robey,  trees  of  five  varieties,  long-keeping  southern  apples, 
plants,  kalmias. 

New  York. 

Dr.  C.  W.  Grant,  thirty-two  willows. 

Charles  Downing,  trees  and  scions  rare  fruits,  nineteen  plants  of 
five  evergreens,  thirty -six  plants  rare  shrubs  of  seventeen  species, 
forty-two  plants,  herbaceous,  thirty-two  papers  flower  seeds. 

EUwanger  &  Barry,  twenty-four  deciduous  shade  trees,  twenty- 
four  large  evergreens,  twenty-four  H.  P.  roses,  all  choice  sorts 
and  fine  trees. 

George  E.  Waring,  junior,  copy  Waring's  Elements  of  Agricul- 
ture. 

Dr.  C.  W.  Grant,  plants  and  specimens  of  Delaware  and  other  new 
grapes. 

Charles  Downing,  Downing's  Seedling  Gooseberry  and  Revised 
Edition  Fruits  and  Fruit  Trees. 

D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  Yeoman's  Class  Book,  and  atlas  of  chemistry. 

J.  W.  Briggs,  farm  right  for  Yandermark's  method  of  uniting 
fence  panels. 

Charles  Downing,  seeds  of  Leninm  pereum  and  Delphinium  for- 
mosum  scions,  sixteen  new  apples. 

J.  W,  Briggs,  bulbs  of  chiifas  and  !potato  onions,  and  seed  excel- 
cior,  lor.  com,  and  flat  dutch  cabbage,  sorghum  sixteen  pounds, 
orange  judd,  five  seeds  choice  garden  vegetables. 

D.  D.  T.  Moore,  copies  of  Rural  New  Yorker  and  report  of  Mon- 
roe County  Agricultural  Society. 

F.  A.  Rockwell,  one  dozen  scions  Barker  apples. 

Charles  Downing,  fifteen  flower  seeds,  and  scions  Kilmarnock 
willow,  seven  species  shrubbery  plants,  four  deciduous  climbers, 
four  bulbous  plants,  low  growth,  ten  herbaceous,  eleven  tall 
growth  herbaceous  plants,  thirty-five  herbaceous  flowering 
plants,  medium  growth. 

Dr.  Gray,  three  tubers  of  three  rare  Goodrich  potatoes. 

England. 
William  Waring,  seedling  pear  trees,  larch,  &c. 


Leg.  Doc"!  Pennsylvania  State  College.  161 

Illinois. 

C.  Francis,  Transactions  Illinois  State  Agricultural  Society  for 
185R,  one  volume. 

Dr.  Oliver  TiflFany,  plan  of  fruit  dryer. 

District  of  Columbia. 

S.  T.  Shugart,  fifteen  volumes  Patent  Office  reports,  fifteen  seeds. 
United  States  Patent  Office,  (per  Hon.  Allison  White,)  box  seed 

evergreen  pyracantha  thorn  and  four  pecks  seeds. 
John  Saul,  fifteen  plants,  five  rare  deciduous  trees,  six  plants  of 

six  new  evergreens. 
Dr.  A.  O.  Elwyn. 

J.  Holt,  seven  pints  Tuscan  wheat. 

United  States  Patent  Office,  one  half  bushel  Tappahamoch  wheat. 
Interior  Department  United  States,  box  books,  one  hundred  and 

three  volumes. 

D.  J.  Brown,  Agricultural  Reports  Patent  OflSce,  1857. 
J.  Holt,  several  packages  seeds. 

S.  T.  Shugart,  one  large  package  vegetable  seed,  twenty-one  papers 

crimson  clover  seed,  ten  papers  white  sugar  beet  seed,  two 

bundles  matchless  marrow  pears, 
S.  T.  Shugart,  nine  volumes  Patent  Office  Reports,  185T,  and  one 

hundred  and  forty-seven  packages  seeds. 
Editors  Washington  Weekly  Review,  current  volume. 
Interior  Department,  forty-three  volumes  Annals  of  Congress, 

1789  to  1824. 

Wisconsin. 
A.  G.  Hanford,  three  superior  potatoes. 

Delaware. 

Ed.  Tatnall,  scions  9  v.  new  pears. 

William  Canby,  cuttings    of    Delaware  grape   (Burgundy),  his 

seedling. 
Ed.  Tatnall,  seed  Chinese  pie  melon. 


Connecticut. 


\ 


H.  A.  Dj'er,  Transactions  Connecticut  Agricultural  Society',  1855 

and  1»5R. 
F.  A.  Rockwell,  scions  baker  apples. 

Ohio. 

M.  B.  Bateham,  Ohio  State  agricultural  reports  and  pomological 

transactions. 
J.  H.  Gould  &  Co.,  husking  thimbles,  one  box. 
Dr.  John  A.  Warder,  a  copy  of  his  hedges  and  evergreens. 
W.  C.  Hampton,  scions  3  v.  grape  (new),  3  v.  pear,  6  v.  of  apple, 

and  seed  of  Syrian  six-rowed  barley. 
J.  N.  Shepherd,  three  bushels  Chili  potatoes,  plants  of  logan,  and 

scion  Burgundy  and  Wyandotte  grapes. 
Hedges,  Free  &  Co.,  boiler  casting  and  pipes. 
11— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


162  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

H.  J.  Cox,  H.  M.  Stand,  Hamilton  county,  discount  on  sugar- 
cane mill,  $35. 

J.  H.  Klippart,  eight  volumes  Ohio  State  Reports,  1850  to  1857, 
one  pamphlet,  sugar  from  Chinese  cane ;  one  pamphlet,  sta- 
tistics, one  ditto  marriages  and  births ;  two  ditto,  Ohio  State 
Board  of  Agriculture  ;  one  ditto,  ninth  annual  fair. 

W.  C.  Hampton, Valor's  New'  System  of  Husbandry,  two  volumes, 
1785,  and  15  v.  tree  seed.  13  v.  melons  and  squash,  8  v.  garden 
vegetables ;  8  v.  peas  and  beans,  30  v.,  or  three  hundred  and 
twenty  plants. 

Massachusetts. 

Charles  L.   Flint,  Transactions  of  the  Agricultural  Society  of 

Massachusetts,  1851,  1853,  1854,  1855,  1856. 
Hickling,  Swan  &  Brewer,  Tate's  Natural  Philosophy. 
Dr.  G.  W,  Dodd,  copy  of  the  Anatomy  of  the  Horse,  one  ditto 

Modern  Horse  Doctor,  one  ditto  Veterinary  Journal  for  1859. 
James  S.  Greenwell,  three  pecks  seedlings  potatoes. 

Michigan. 

Prof  J.  C.  Holmes,  Transactions  Michigan  State  Agricultural 
Society,  and  Agricultural  College  Circular. 

William  D.  Cochran,  a  copy  of  Cochran's  Agricultural  Book- 
keeping. 

California. 
Charles  Schall,  seeds  of  magnetic  and  other  evergreens. 

Iowa. 

James  Smith,  scions  of  11  v.  apples  (Hungarian  millet). 

E.  H.  Cockling,  seeds  of  10  v.  superior  melons  and  squashes. 

New  Jersey. 

Gerald  Howatt,  three  pecks  Prince  Albert  potatoes,  with  model 
setts  and  seeds  California  spring  wheat,  (very  plump  and  white.) 
Mj'coeth  &  Perkins,  chemical  guano  for  limestone  soil. 

Vermont. 

''C.  0.  Luce,  a  clover-seeding  harrow,  for  use  in  corn  rows,  last 
working. 

Maine. 

:.S.  L.  Goodale,  three  Annual  Reports  Maine  Agricultural  Board, 
1858. 

Arkansas. 

Elias  N.  Conway,  (Governor,)  an  illustrated  copy  Dr.  David  Dale 
Owen's  First  Report  of  Geological  Reconnaisance  of  Northern 
Counties  of  Arkansas. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  163 

James  Miles,  Erie  county,        . $500  00 

Frederick  Watts,  Cumberland  county,      500  00 

A.  0.  Hiester,  Dauphin  county 500  00 

H.  N.  McAllister,  Centre  county, 500  00 

J.  S.  Haldeman,  York  county,         500  00 

Simon  Cameron,  Dauphin  countj'^,      500  00 

William  M.  Lyon,  Allegheny, 500  00 

W.  Bragdley,  Allegheny,                      500  00 

G.  and  J.  H.  Shoenberger,  Allegheny, 500  00 

R.  F.  Ross,  Dauphin  county,          ......  500  00 

Moses  Thompson,  Centre  county, 500  00 

James  S.  Hale,  Centre  county, 500  00 

Leonard  Rhone,  affirmed  and  examined : 

Q.  You  are  at  present  a  trustee  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  are 
you  not  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  When  did  you  become  such  ? 

A.  A  year  last  June  commencement. 

Q.  Have  you  attended  the  meetings  of  the  trustees  regularly  ? 

A.  I  believe  I  have  attended  all  since  I  have  been  a  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees. 

Q.  How  many  meetings  during  this  time  have  you  had  ? 

A    Four,  I  think. 

Q.  You  have  paid  some  attention  to  the  college,  and  have  visited  it, 
have  you  not  ? 

A.  I  have  not  visited  it  very  frequently,  but  I  have  been  there  to  the 
business  meetings  of  the  executive  committee. 

Q.  Will  you  please  give  us  your  experience  in  relation  to  the  college 
since  you  became  a  trustee,  and  then  afterwards  we  shall  be  glad  to  have 
your  opinion  as  to  the  course  of  instruction,  or  the  course  of  changes,  that 
would  be  advisable  ?     What  have  you  to  say  about  the  appropriations  ? 

A.  The  appropriations  are  made  annually  at  the  January  meeting  of  the 
board  of  trustees.  We  appropriate  so  much  to  the  several  departments  at 
the  college,  fix  the  salaries  of  the  professors,  and  others  employed  about 
the  college  and  farms.  This  is  generally  left  to  the  executive  committee, 
which  is  generally  ratified  by  the  board  of  trustees. 

Q.  Who  are  the  executive  committee  ? 

A.  General  Beaver  is  chairman,  and  Judge  Orvis,  myself,  and  Professor 
McKee,  since  there  is  no  president,  is  secretary  to  the  executive  com- 
mittee. The  executive  committee  also  make  arrangements  for  expenditure 
of  money  in  the  way  of  improvements  of  the  campus  or  college  buildings. 
I  do  not  know  of  any  fraudulent  expenditure  of  money.  There  was  a  cer- 
tain contract  there  that  was  closed  up  after  I  became  a  trustee  ;  but  1  do 
not  think  it  was  fraudulent ;  I  should  rather  say  it  was  mismanagement. 
The  contract  was  made  a  year  before  I  entered  upon  my  duties  as  trustee. 
It  was  a  contract  made  for  the  erection  of  a  house  that  was  to  cost  $5,000, 
but  which  afterwards  cost  $7,000 ;  but  it  is  my  impression  that  it  was  not 
fraudulent,  but  that  it  was  probalaly  mismanagement  in  some  way,  which 
often  occurs  in  erecting  durable  edifices,  especially  in  public  business. 

Q.  You  allude  to  Professor  Smith's  house  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  refer  to  this  because  it  has  been  talked  about  all  over  the 
country. 


164  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Professor  Smith  : 

Q.  Do  you  say  thai  the  board  of  trustees  passed  an  appropriation  lim- 
iting the  cost  of  the  house  to  |.5,000  ? 

A.  I  would  not  be  prepared  to  say  about  that.  It  is  simply  a  verbal 
statement  on  the  part  of  the  executive  committee  that  that  was  the  con- 
tract. I  do  not  know  it  of  my  own  knowledge,  because  it  occurred  before 
I  entered  upon  my  duties  as  trustee. 

Q.  Was  it  not  merely  represented  to  the  board  of  trustees  that  it  was 
thought  that  the  house  could  be  built  for  $5,OnO  ? 

A.  I  think  it  was  the  impression  of  the  board  that  it  was  to  be  built  for 
$5,000.  At  least,  it  was  the  original  intention  that  it  should  be  built  for 
that  amount,  and  it  was  so  expressed  by  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee in  my  presence.  The'building  of  the  house  was  settled  for  since  I 
am  a  member  of  the  executive  committee ;  that  is,  a  note  was  given  for 
an  unpaid  amount,  in  order  to  satisfy  a  mechanics'  lien  that  was  filed 
against  the  house,  which  occurred  through  some  mismanagement  of  Pro- 
fess6r  Smith's,  1  believe.  As  to  the  details  of  the  expenaitures,  I  have 
never  made  any  inquiries  into  them,  I  accepted  what  was  said  by  the  board 
as  being  true,  and  I  do  not  think  now  that  there  ever  was  any  fraudulent 
or  misappropriation  of  the  funds  of  the  college,  but  I  do  think  that  the 
money  has  been  appropriated  with  mistaken  ideas. 

Q.  And  do  you  mean  any  special  items  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  am  speaking  generally  of  the  institution  now. 

Q.  Can  you  give  some  instance  ? 

A.  Well,  to  start  with,  I  think,  in  1854,  the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural 
Society  organized  the  first  definite  movement  towards  establishing  an  agri- 
cultural school  in  Pennsylvania  ;  an  address  was  issued  to  the  people  by 
the  agricultural  society  of  the  State,  which  was  signed  by  Frederick  Watts, 
George  Woodward,  and  Dr.  Elvvyn.  A  report  was  made  to  the  society 
afterwards,  and  an  address  issued  to  the  farmers  of  Pennsylvania,  setting 
forth  the  character  of  the  institution  they  proposed  to  establish.  The  full 
proceedings  you  can  obtain  in  the  report  of  the  agricultural  society  of 
Pennsylvania,  published  in  1854,  volume  2,  page  33,  the  purposes  to  which 
it  was  to  be  established  was  set  forth  fully  in  that  book,  which  you  can 
read  for  yourselves.  In  pursuance  of  this,  there  was  a  charter  granted  in 
1854,  which  was  approved  by  Governor  Pollock  ;  this  charter  was  repealed 
in  1855,  and  a  new  charter  issued  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania, 
under  which  the  college  was  originally  organized  and  incorporated  by  the 
State.  The  trustees  were  restricted  in  that  charter  in  accepting  donations. 
By  reading  this  charter  you  can  ascertain  for  yourself  what  it  contains.  I 
simply  make  this  statement  that,  if  you  desire  to,  you  can  see  for  your- 
selves what  the  purpose  was  in  establishing  this  institution  originally. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  What  the  original  intention  was  of  the  Farmers'  High  School  ? 

A.  The  intention;  yes,  sir;  I  have  said  that  the  funds  were  probably 
misappropriated unintentior ally  or  under  wrong  impressions;  what  I  mean 
by  that  is  that  they  proceeded  to  establish  different  chairs  of  professor- 
ship outside  of  the  agricultural  course  and  course  of  mechanical  arts. 

Q.  You  now  allude  to  the  classical  course  that  is  now  taught  in  the  col- 
lege, do  you  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  now,  I  would  not  be  misunderstood  in  this,  that  I  do  not 
appreciate  the  value  of  a  classical  education  :  I  believe  that  the  study  of 
the  dead  languages  is  a  good  discipline  for  the  mind,  but  I  do  not  think 
that  it  should  have  taken  the  i)lace  of  the  agricultural  course  or  the  study 
of  mechanical  arts,  in  this  institution.     It  is  not  necessary  to  take  a  class- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  165 

ical  course  in  order  to  take  an  agricultural  course  or  to  study  the  mechan- 
ical arts.  Of  all  the  students  who  attend  our  medical  and  law  universities, 
there  is  probably  not  one  third  of  them  who  are  graduates  of  a  classical 
institution  ;  consequently,  I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  that  you  need  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  classical  education  in  order  to  take  a  course  in 
agriculture.  This  land  grant  fund  could  be  made  a  great  deal  better  use 
of,  and  the  farmers  would  get  a  great  deal  more  benefit  from  it  if  there 
was  a  pure  agricultural  college  established  where  nothing  else  was  taught 
therein  except  the  science  of  agriculture  and  mechanical  arts.  Conduct 
them  in  the  same  way  as  our  law  universities  and  our  medical  colleges  are 
conducted,  and  if  such  a  thing  was  done  it  would  be  what  is  required  by 
the  act  of  Congress  donating  the  land  grant  fund,  and  would  come  nearer 
meeting  the  intentions  of  the  act  of  Congress  by  far  than  what  is  now 
being  done  by  the  present  management  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College. 

Q.  Is  not  that  a  mere  matter  of  opinion  or  rather  a  legal  question  as  to 
what  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress  are  in  this  case  than  anything 
else,  and  is  it  not  a  question  which  you  or  I  are  incapable  of  determining, 
and  is  it  not  a  question  which  must  be  determined  by  the  judiciary  of 
this  country  ? 

A.  That  may  be  so,  bift  they  have  in  Michigan  an  agricultural  college, 
one  of  that  kind,  and  a'so  one  in  Georgia,  which  are  ver}^  successful,  and 
there  is  no  State  in  the  Union  that  has  received  a  larger  land  grant  than 
what  Pennsylvania  has. 

Q.  Bat  if  Michigan  and  Georgia  have  failed  to  comply  with  require- 
meats  with  the  acts  of  Congress,  is  that  any  reason  why  Pennsylvania 
should  also  fail  to  comply  with  requirements  of  the  law  ?  Is  that  not  a 
question  that  has  not  been  decided ;  and  when  3'ou  say  that  Pennsylvania 
has  not  complied  with  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress,  is  it  not 
only  3^our  opinion  you  are  giving  on  a  question  that  must  be  decided  by 
the  courts  ? 

A.  I  acknowledge  that  question  has  never  been  decided  by  the  courts  ; 
but  you  wanted  me  to  make  a  statement  and  give  3'ou  my  views,  and  I 
want  to  be  understood  that  I  am  expressing  my  own  opinion  on  the 
matter. 

Q.  Did  you  ever  examine  the  act  of  Congress  making  the  land  donation  ? 

A.  I  did. 

Q.  But  in  reference  to  the  requirements  under  which  this  college  would 
be  benefited  by  it  ? 

A.  I  know  there  is  a  provision  in  the  act  of  Congress  that  the  classics 
shall  not  be  excluded. 

Q.  And  there  is  also  a  provision  making  it  obligatory  that  the  science 
of  military  shall  be  taught  by  all  those  colleges  who  receive  any  benefit 
from  this  fund,  is  there  not  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  not  that  expression,  shall  not  be  excluded,  equivalent  to  the  same 
thing  ? 

A.  Not  necessarih\  A  construction  could  be  put  on  the  act  which 
would  make  it  mean  that  classics  only  should  be  taught,  if  it  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  either  of  the  things  which 
the  act  makes  it  obligatory  to  be  taught,  either  military  science  or  the 
course  in  agriculture. 

Q.  But  3'OU  do  admit  that  it  is  a  matter  of  construction '( 

A.  Oh,  yes. 

Q.  Consequently  we  come  right  back  to  the  legal  question  again,  which 
has  never  been  decided  yet  by  our  courts,  and  each  person  is  at  liberty  to 


166  Report  of  the  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

place  his  own  construction  on  it  so  long  as  it  remains  undecided,  and  they 
all  amount  to  about  the  same  thing. 

Q.  Did  not  the  original  donation  of  these  thirty  thousand  acres  of  land 
to  each  of  the  States  for  every  member  and  Senator  of  Congress  that 
State  had  in  the  National  Congress  of  the  United  States  belong  to  all  of 
the  people  "of  the  United  States,  whether  they  were  farmers,  lawyers,  doc- 
tors, shoemakers,  blacksmiths,  or  whatever  avocation  they  followed  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States — did  not  that  land  originally  belong  to  all  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  indiscriminately,  and  has  Congress  any 
power  to-day,  or  had  it  then  any  power,  to  donate  that  amount  of  land  to 
any  particular  class  of  people  in  the  country  for  that  class  of  people's 
special  benefit  ? 

A.  I  admit  that  question  to  be  true,  with  this  qualification  :  That  if  3^ou 
establish  an  institution  for  a  particular  class,  and  for  the  benefit  of  that 
class  exclusively,  that  would  be  class  legislation ;  but  if  you  establish  an 
institution  where  any  one  can  enter  that  wishes  to,  and  pursue  an  agricul- 
tural course,  or  stud}'  the  mechanical  arts,  and,  of  course,  providing  that 
they  might  come  from  any  place ;  in  that  way  it  would  be  for  the  benefit 
of  the  whole  people,  and  then  all  those  who  would  wish  to  fit  their  sons 
and  daughters  for  such  pursuits  could  have  an  opportunity  of  doing  so. 

Q.  Was  not  that  act  of  Congress  intended  to  be  broad  enough  in  its 
provisions  to  cover  all  classes  of  people  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
United  States  ? 

A.  Well,  I  think  the  construction  that  I  place  upon  the  act  makes  it 
broad  enough  for  that;  it  is  intended  to  cover  all  classes  of  people,  and 
all  classes  can  have  the  benefit  of  it  if  they  desire  to  pursue  the  studies  of 
agriculture  or  that  of  mechanical  arts. 

Q.  Yes,  I  should  say  so,  too,  if  everybody  wanted  to  study  agriculture 
or  the  mechanical  arts.  Then  we  must  be  governed  by  the  wording 
of  the  act,  must  we  not  ?  Governed  by  the  terms  of  that  act  of  Con- 
gress, and  we  will  take  first  this  part  of  it.  viz  :  "  It  shall  be  for  the  en- 
dowment of  one  or  more  colleges,  whose  principal  object  shall  be  to  teach 
those  branches  appertaining  to  the  science  of  agriculture  and  mechanical 
arts,  not  excluding  other  scientific  or  classical  studies,  and  including  mili- 
tary tactics."  Now,  Mr.  Rhone,  is  not  that  wording  broad  enough  to  re- 
quire the  recipients  of  that  fund  to  maintain  a  classical  and  scientific 
course,  to  give  those  who  desire  to  enter  upon  such  a  course  an  oppor- 
tunity of  obtaining  a  full  and  complete  education  at  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College  ? 

A.  You  have  a  question  before  you  can  decide  that.  You  must  have 
first  an  explanation  of  the  acts  of  incorporation  before  you  can  decide 
that.  The  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Society  incorporated  this  institu- 
tion first  as  an  agricultural  school. 

Q.  Well,  we  come  right  back  to  the  legal  question  again,  do  we  not  ? 
But  has  not  the  act  of  1868  passed  by  tlie  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  re- 
organizing the"  Farmer's  High  School," first  as  the  "Agricultural  College 
of  Pennsylvania."  and  what  we  now  know' as  the  "  Pennsylvania  State  Col- 
lege;" has  not  that  act  imposed  upon  the  trustees  of  the  college,  who  are 
the  recipients  of  that  fund,  the  special  duty  of  maintaining  a  college  in 
which  a  classical  course  and  other  scientific  studies  were  not  to  be  excluded, 
and  could  they  not,  under  the  wording  of  that  act,  establish  such  a  course 
if,  in  their  judgment,  it  was  thought  necessary  and  proper? 

A.  I  do  not  think  they  could,  from  the  fact  that  the  Agricultural  Society 
was  the  authority  that  first  asked  for  a  charter  from  the  State,  and  which 
was  granted  to  those  persons  designated  by  that  society ;  consequeutl} 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  167 

these  trustees  would  not  have  the  power  to  change  the  purpose  of  the  in- 
stitution without  the  consent  of  the  power  creating  it,  which  was  the  Penn- 
sylvania Agricultural  Society  originally. 

Q.  As  to  whether  that  is  so  or  not  will  be  for  our  courts  to  say ;  that  is 
only  your  opinion ;  we  would  like  to  have  you  now  state  some  facts  to  us 
as  to  the  management  of  the  college,  or  how  it  ought  to  be  run. 

A.  Well,  I  shall  only  speak  of  the  agricultural  part  of  it.  The  college 
is  defective  in  not  being  provided  with  good  stock  :  it  is  not  properly 
stocked  with  animals  that  we  do  not  generally  have  on  the  farms  in  Penn- 
sylvania. It  is  defective  in  that  it  does  not  have  the  more  modern  and 
scientific  appliances  in  the  way  of  farming  implements  that  are  already 
used  by  the  best  farmers  in  the  State ;  and  it  is  defective  in  that  it  does 
not  give  practical  instruction  to  the  young  men  who  wish  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  the  practical  pursuits  of  agriculture  in  Pennsylvania.  Farmers 
have  a  right  to  expect  that  when  they  send  their  sons  or  daughters  there, 
if  they  wish  t(»  prepare  themselves  for  the  pursuit  of  agriculture,  that  they 
will  return  better  qualified  to  do  that  kind  of  work  than  they  would  have 
been  had  they  never  attended  an  institution  of  learning  for  that  purpose. 
Or,  in  other  words,  they  have  a  right  to  expect  that  their  sons  and  daugh- 
ters will  receive  such  an  education  at  that  institution  that  will  enable  them 
to  return  to  their  homes  fully  competent  to  adopt  and  pursue  the  most 
approved  and  practical  methods  known  to  modern  agriculture  in  the  United 
States — yes,  I  should  say,  in  the  world. 

Q.  Do  they  not  have  what  is  denominated  or  laid  down  in  the  curricu- 
lum of  the  college  an  agricultural  course  that  would  fit  any  graduate  in 
that  course  in  the  theory  of  farming  and  all  the  sciences  appertaining  to 
it,  and  are  they  not  prepared  to  teach  the  theory  at  the  Pennsylvania  State 
College  of  which  I  am  speaking  ? 

A.  Well,  with  all  they  teach  at  the  State  College  I  do  not  see  how  a  stu- 
dent could  learn  very  much  about  soiling  cattle,  nor  do  I  see  where  he 
would  get  his  ideas  about  silos ;  you  can  only  get  that,  I  think,  by  obser- 
vation, and  as  it  is  not  carried  on  there,  as  a  matter  of  course  he  does  not 
obtain  that  information.  I  do  not  see  where  he  could  learn  an^'thing  that 
would  be  of  any  practical  use  to  him  in  horticulture  ;  there  is  not  a  single 
care  devoted  to  that. 

Q.  Do  you  not  know,  Mr.  Rhone,  that  there  have  been  silo  experiments 
carried  on,  on  the  experimental  farms,  on  the  Eastern  and  Central  farms,  for 
several  yCtirs  ? 

A.  If  there  was  I  had  never  been  advised  of  the  fact. 
By  Mylin  : 

You  a  trustee  and  do  not  know  that  I     Why,  even  this  much,  abused 
committee  has  found  out  that. 
By  Alexander : 

Q.  Do  you  not  know  that  the  subject  of  soiling  is  still  a  mooted  ques- 
tion among  scientific  men,  as  well  as  among  better  class  of  farmers  ? 

A.  The  question  of  soiling  is  a  fully  decided  question  among  our  best 
agriculturists  in  Pennsylvania. 

Q.  How  many  farmers  in  Pennsylvania,  do  you  suppose,  carry  on  the 
practice  of  soiling  as  a  regular  business  in  Pennsylvania — have  you  any 
means  of 'knowing  ? 

A.  I  would'nt,  of  course,  know  that.  I  see  no  statement  anywhere  that 
the  census  department  took  any  note  of  it. 

Q.  How  many  do  you  know  from  your  own  observation  ? 

A.  It  would  be  difl&cult  to  estimate  the  number. 


168  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  Mr.  Rhone,  you  are  connected  with  the  grange,  are  you  not — I  mean 
the  patrons  of  husbandry  of  Pennsylvania  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  am  master  of  the  State  grange. 

Q.  Why  I  ask  you  that  question  is  that  I  do  not  wish  to  ask  you  any- 
thing that  I  ought  not  to  ask  you,  and  if  I  should  ask  you  something  you 
do  not  think  you  should  answer,  why,  you  need  not  answer  it ;  what  I  wish 
to  ask  you  is,  how  do  the  members  of  the  State  grange  feel  towards  the  State 
College ;  what  is  their  feeling,  as  a  body,  to  it  ? 

A.  They  feel,  I  think,  a  great  interest  in  it,  but  they  are  dissatisfied  with 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  governed  ;  those  that  I  have  heard  express  them- 
selves think  that  it  ought  to  be  conducted  as  the  Illinois  Industrial  Insti- 
tute, or  the  Agricultural  College  of  Michigan  or  of  Greorgia. 

Q.  Then  their  views  agree  with  those  you  have  stated  as  being  your 
views  on  the  subject  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  so  far  as  I  have  stated  them. 

Q.  Can  you  tell  us  how  many  sons  of  grangers  are  at  the  State  College  ? 

A.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  how  many.  I  know  one  man  that  has  two 
sons  there.  But  if  farmers  by  going  there  are  simply  to  get  a  literary 
education,  then  they  might  as  well  go  to  any  other  institution.  If  that  is 
what  is  required  to  be  taught  by  the  schools  receiving  the  benefit  of  this 
land  grant  fund,  then  our  agricultural  colleges  are  of  no  use. 

Q.  A  farmer's  son  who  is  old  enough  to  enter  upon  an  agricultural 
course,  does  he  or  does  he  not  need  any  practical  instruction  as  how  to 
plough,  sow,  or  reap,  or  how  to  do  ordinary  farm  work  ;  has  he  not  already 
got  that  several  years  before  he  leaves  the  farm  for  college  ? 

A.  Well,  some  knowledge  on  that  matter  is  very  desirable. 

A.  But  has  he  not  already  obtained  that  knowledge  at  home  ? 

A.  I  presume  that  a  majority  of  those  who  want  to  pursue  a  course  of 
that  kind  are  not  farmers'  sons — who  wish  to  prepare  themselves  to  enter 
upon  the  pursuit  of  agriculture ;  and  unless  they  had  been  farmers'  sons 
they  would  not  have  any  such  knowledge,  and  it  would  be  very  necessary 
for  them  to  have  some  practical  knowledge  on  that  subject  before  they 
could  take  hold  of  a  farm  and  run  it. 

Q.  Do  3'ou  know  of  any  persons  who  are  sons  of  professional  men,  or 
sons  of  merchants,  or  of  mechanics,  who  desire  to  be  instructed  in  an 
agricultural  course — are  there  any  such  that  you  know  of? 

A.  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  name  any  just  now,  but  there  are  such,  I 
am  very  certain  of. 

Q.  Well,  is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  number  is  so  very  much  limited  that 
just  now,  when  you  are  called  upon  to  name  any,  you  cannot  think  of  any, 
or  do  not  know  that  you  ever  did  know  of  any  ?  Mr.  Rhone,  is  there  not 
a  tendency  even  among  farmers'  sons,  (not  to  say  anything  about  the  sons 
of  other  men.)  when  they  want  to  go  to  college,  or  get  a  college  education, 
that  they  generally  enter  college  with  the  intention  of  obtaining  a  classical 
or  other  scientific  education  in  preference  to  that  of  taking  an  agri- 
cultural course,  and  after  he  has  gone  through  college,  and  has  taken  an 
agricultural  course,  he  enters  some  profession  instead  of  going  back  to 
the  farm  ? 

A.  Well,  it  is  to  be  very  much  regretted  that  such  is  the  case.  It  should 
not  be  so.  The  agricultural  course  should  be  made  attractive  enough  that 
it  would  be  just  as  desirable  to  pursue  a  farmer's  life  as  it  would  be  to 
enter  any  of  the  professions. 

Q.  Then,  from  what  you  have  testified  here  to-day,  it  is  more  the  want 
of  attention  on  the  part  of  the  trustees  to  the  duties  which  they  have 
assumed,  that  the  college  is  as  much  of  a  failure  as  it  is  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  169 

A.  Well,  I  would  not  ba  willing  to  confess  exactly.  I  confess  I  do  not 
exactly  know  why  it  is.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  members  of  the  board 
of  trustees  do  not  pa}'  much  attention  to  it,  and  the  result  of  that  is  that 
a  few  of  the  members  of  the  board  have  been  running  the  college  pretty 
much  as  they  saw  fit  for  the  last  few  years.  One  reason  of  its  failure  is,  I 
think,  that  that  management  of  it  has  diverted  it  more  and  more  every 
succeeding  year  from  its  original  olvject.  I  think  the  trustees  who  are 
controlling  it  now  are  running  it  under  a  misapprehension  of  what  their 
duties  are  in  running  an  institution  of  that  kind. 

Q.  Then  it  is  not  a  diversity  of  opinion  among  the  trustees  as  to  what 
ought  to  be  done  with  it,  as  well  as  among  the  people  of  the  State,  that 
prevents  its  success  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know.  But  I  think,  so  far  as  the  agricultural  interests  are 
concerned,  the  wants  of  the  people  in  that  particular  ought  to  be  first  sup- 
plied before  they  expend  an}^  money  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  up  expen- 
sive classical  and  scientific  courses. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  any  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  has 
applied  himself  to  ascertain  what  the  board  should  do,  in  order  to  make 
the  institution  a  success  ? 

A .  I  do  not  know  about  any  but  myself,  and  as  for  me  there  would  be 
no  use  of  me  doing  any  more  than  what  I  have  already  done,  as  my  views 
would  not  be  adopted  any  wa3^  If  some  of  the  suggestions  were  adopted 
that  I  have  given  you  here  to-day  the  college  might  be  made  a  success.  I 
think  I  have  told  you  already  why  the  farmers  throughout  the  State  did 
not  support  the  institution  was,  because  it  had  been  turned  into  a  regular 
literary  college  in  place  of  being  a  farmer's  or  agricultural  school,  as  it 
was  originally  intended  to  be. 

Q.  Are  you  not  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  why  do  you 
not  have  some  of  these  errors  remedied  on  the  part  of  the  trustees  ? 

A.  Wh3',the  majority  of  them  is  always  with  the  few,  to  whom  the  man- 
agement is  always  entrusted,  and  those  few  present  their  views  and  insist 
that  the  board  adopt  them,  which  is  universally  done,  and  the  minority  are 
not  of  much  account,  and  the  only  way  to  enforce  our  views  is  through 
a  legislative  committee  or  a  power  that  is  higher  than  the  board  of  trustees 
themselves. 

Q.  Then  the  majority  is  wrong  because  they  fail  to  agree  with  your 
views  as  to  how  the  college  should  be  conducted  ? 

A.  Well,  that  is  rather  a  strong  assertion.  I  mean  they  do  not  give 
the  matter  a  fair  consideration.  Now,  when  the  last  meeting  of  the  board 
of  trustees  met  at  Harrisburg,  I  was  advocating  the  best  means  of  intro- 
ducing thoroughbred  stock  on  the  farm  and  what  ought  to  be  done  so  as 
/'^to  keep  the  stock  of  thoroughbred  stock  on  hand  all  the  time,  and  so  as 
to  be  of  some  use  to  the  farmers  and  to  keep  it  registered  so  as  to  keep 
trace  of  the  pedigree,  which,  I  think,  ought  to  be  done  in  all  well-i-egulated 
agricultural  colleges.  I  did  this  in  a  very  modest  way,  and  also  stated  that 
we  ought  to  have  a  bull  at  the  experimental  farm,  as  well  as  a  number  of 
good  thoroughbred  cows,  and  farmers  who  did  not  care  to  have  thorough- 
"^--breds  could  drive  their  common  stock  to  the  college  farm,  where  they  could 
have  the  use  or  benefit  of  mixing  their  stock  with  thoroughbreds.  I  was 
advocating  this  idea  when  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  met  me 
with  the  objection  that  they  did  not  want  such  things  as  bulls  covering 
cows  at  a  college.     As  a  matter  of  course  that  ended  the  controvers3\ 

Q.  Did  any  of  the  trustees  of  the  college  go  so  far  as  to  prevent  all  those 
kinds  of  things  at  an  experimental  farm  ? 

A.  It  seems  so.  [Laughter.] 


lYO  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  I  would  have  supposed  that  such  things  were  permitted  at  that  insti- 
tution from  the  testimony  of  the  young  lady  who  said  here  to-day  that  the 
surroundings  of  the  college  were  very  immoral.  Would  not  the  plan  you 
speak  of  only  be  to  the  interest  to  the  people  and  farmers  at  and  near  the 
college  ? 

A.  Well,  I  suppose  we  have  not  received  any  more  benefit  from  the  in- 
stitution because  it  was  near  us  than  other  parts  of  the  State.  But  the 
plan  I  speak  of  could  be  carried  on  at  the  same  time  at  the  other  experi- 
mental farms  in  the  State. 

Q.  Do  they  have  any  creamaries  at  the  State  College  ? 

A.  They  have  a  small  one  there  now. 

Q.  Any  steam  chicken-hatching  apparatus  ? 

A.  Nothing  of  that  kind  ;  no,  sir. 

Q.  How  about  the  farm  stock  on  the  place  ? 

A.  About  as  on  an  ordinary  farm.  A  very  important  thing  for  farmers 
to  be  informed  on  is  never  mentioned  in  the  course  at  the  college  at  all, 
and  that  is  the  subject  of  veterinary.  No  agricultural  college  is  complete 
without  a  veterinary  chair.  There  is  no  attention  paid  to  the  raising  of 
poultry  or  bees.  There  is  a  vineyard  there,  but  no  attention  paid  to  hor- 
ticulture at  all ;  and,  as  to  the  stock,  no  thoroughbred  horses  and  no  thor- 
oughbred cattle. 

Q.  Do  they  raise  any  tobacco  on  the  farm  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  they  raise  no  tobacco  ;  but  there  are  farmers  in  the  county 
who  have  raised  it  successfully. 

Q.  Do  they  raise  any  sorghum  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Do  they  give  any  instructions  how  to  make  sugar  or  syrup  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  no  instruction  given  at  all  on  that  subject. 

Q.  How  much  of  the  farm  is  devoted  to  actual  experiments  ? 

A.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  how  much. 

Q.  Have  you  examined  it  ? 

A.  I  have  been  on  it  different  times. 

Q.  Have  you  any  further  suggestions  to  make,  Mr.  Rhone  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  of  anything  further  at  present. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  received  a  copy  of  the  resolution  creating  the  com- 
mittee ? 

A.  I  received  a  copy  from  Senator  Alexander  when  I  was  subpoenaed  to 
come  to  Philadelphia. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Well,  Mr.  Rhone,  as  you  are  an  officer  of  the  college  and  a  representa- 
tive man  of  the  farming  interests  in  the  State,  and  as  it  should  be  your 
pleasure,  and  no  doubt  is,  to  look  into  matters  connected  with  the  college 
and  its  management,  and  you  are  in  a  better  position  than  many  others  to 
inquire  into  those  things,  and  give  us  your  opinion  concerning  them,  and 
suggest  ways  by  which  the  evils  you  speak  of  could  be  corrected. 

A.  Well,  when  the  majority  is  against  you  it  is  useless  to  trouble  your- 
self about  it. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Well,  if  there  is  anything  comes  to  your  knowledge  that  would  be  im- 
portant for  the  committee  to  know,  we  would  be  glad  to  have  3'ou  notify  us, 
and  we  will  give  you  an  opportunity  to  present  it  before  the  committee  at 
any  sessions  we  may  hold. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  IT  I 

Eastern  Experimental  Farm,  Pa., 

West  Grove,  Chester  County, 
Friday,  10,  a.  m.,  May  12,  1882. 
The    sub-committee  met.      Present,   viz :    Messrs.    Mylin,   Alexander, 
Hall,  and  Roberts. 

By  consent,  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  session  of  the  committee 
last  night  was  dispensed  with.  The  request  of  the  trustees  of  the  State 
College  for  an  investigation,  and  the  resolution  of  the  Legislature,  were 
read  for  the  information  of  the  public,  when  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Harvey,  the 
first  superintendent  of  this  farm,  was  affirmed  and  examined  ;  and  likewise 
Job  Jackson,  Esquire;  John  Carter,  Esquire,  ex-superintendent;  — . 
Shelmin,  Esquire,  ex-superintendent ;  Milton  Harvey,  Esquire,  of  the  ad- 
visory committee;  Nathan  Sharpless,  Esquire,  and  J.  F.  Hickman,  the 
present  superintendent,  were  severally  affirmed  and  examined. 

Adjourned  at  9.30,  p.  m.,  to  meet  at  10,  a.  m.,  May  13,  1882,  at  St.  Cloud 
Hotel,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 


Committee  met  May  12,  1882,  at  10,  a.  m.,  in  the  office  of  Eastern  Ex- 
perimental Farm,  West  Grove,  Chester  count\^,  Pennsylvania. 

Members  of  the  committee  present :  Senator  Mylin,  chairman ;  Repre- 
sentative Hall,  secretary ;  Senator  Alexander,  Representative  Roberts,  and 
Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  Senate  McConnell. 

Thomas  Harvey,  a^rmed: 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  I  would  like  you  to  give  us  the  early  history  of  this 
farm,  your  connection  with  it  at  the  time  it  was  originally  started,  and  up 
to  the  time  3'ou  left  it,  and  also  what  you  have  seen  going  on  since  you 
have  become  disconnected  with  it. 

A.  In  the  first  place,  I  will  have  to  testify  under  a  great  disadvantage, 
because  of  my  great  family  bereavement ;  secondly,  I  am  not  very  well ; 
thirdly,  my  hearing  is  very  poor ;  but  I  can  tell  everything  I  know  about 
it  in  a  very  short  time.  I  presume  I  had  better  begin  and  tell  where  the 
idea  of  an  experimental  farm  first  started,  as  that  will  be  lajing  the  founda- 
tion of  what  I  desire  to  say  about  it.  As  in  building  a  house,  you  lay  the 
foundation  first,  so  as  to  have  something  to  build  upon,  and  to  give  a  his- 
tory of  how  this  idea  of  an  experimental  farm  originated  will  be  to  lay  a 
foundation  for  what  I  have  to  say  upon  the  subject.  There  was,  at  the 
time,  throughout  the  State,  but  more  particularly  in  the  eastern  portion  of 
the  State,  farmers'  clubs  and  agricultural  societies  that  were  discussing 
the  subject  of  experimental  farming,  for  the  benefit  of  all  farmers ;  that 
there  should  be  a  farm  conducted  for  the  trying  of  experiments,  and  the 
results  of  these  experiments  published,  that  any  farmer  who  was  interested 
in  the  thing  could  receive  a  benefit  from  it ;  and  this  thing  was  the  subject 
of  discussion  among  our  farmers'  clubs  and  agricultural  societies,  and 
plans  were  suggested  and  adopted  to  carry  out  these  ideas.  There  is  where, 
I  think,  the  idea  first  started  of  these  experimental  farms.  When  this 
land  grant  came  from  the  United  States  Government,  one  of  the  conditions 
was,  that  the  money  realized  from  the  sale  of  the  land  scrip  should  be 
appropriated  to  an  institution  whers  this  idea  could  be  carried  out  in  a 
scientific  manner.  To  experiment  in  agriculture,  and  make  the  results  of 
the  experiments  known,  was,  that  the  farmers  and  all  those  interested  in 
agricultural  pursuits  might  receive  the  benefit  of  it.     Now,  this  Agricul- 


172  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

tural  College  was  to  do  the  scientific  work  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture. 
The  Agricultural  College  was  to  do  that  part  of,  and  make  the  results 
known  for  the  benefit  of  agricultural  interests  of  the  State.    I  suppose  you 
are  all  familiar  with  the  acts  relating  to  these  farms  ? 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  you  need  not  mention  the  acts,  or  refer  us  to  them,  as 
we  have  already  got  them  in  evidence. 

A.  Well,  at  the  time  these  farms  were  established  it  was  distinctly  pro- 
vided that  money  appropriated  to  the  State  Agricultural  College,  or  the 
Farmers'  High  School,  as  it  was  then  called,  should  only  be  appropriated  to 
the  college  under  certain  conditions,  which  were  that  the  college  would 
have  to  establish,  conduct,  and  maintain  three  experimental  farms,  and  that 
they  had  no  title  to  the  money  unless  they  did  that.  In  order  that  the 
State  Agricultural  College  should  get  this  money  they  agreed  to  do  this ; 
and  in  pursuance  of  that  there  was  a  committee  appointed  to  select  a  proper 
farm  suitable  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended. 

The  committee  was  composed  of  Judge  Watts,  George  Blight,  I  think, 
was  a  member,  and  I  forget  the  name  of  the  third  member  of  the  commit- 
tee. George  Blight  was  one  of  the  trustees  at  the  time  that  they  came  to 
the  neighborhood  to  look  for  farms.  The  idea  originated  here  about  ex- 
perimental farms,  and,  of  course,  they  came  here  to  look  for  a  farm.  I 
owned  this  farm  at  the  time,  and  when  they  came  here  into  the  neighborhood 
to  pui'chase  a  farm  I  told  them  before  they  made  up  their  minds  to  purchase 
they  should  come  and  take  a  look  at  my  farm.  I  invited  them  to  go  and 
take  a  look  at  it,  and  they  did  so,  and  in  pursuance  of  that  bought  it.  I 
wanted  to  sell  my  farm  about  that  time,  on  account  of  ill  health  ;  and 
while  I  was  in  the  process  of  selling  the  farm  I  got  to  getting  better ;  and 
by  the  time  I  had  the  farm  sold  I  had  pretty  fully  recovered  my  health, 
and  then  they  asked  me  to  take  the  farm  and  run  it.  In  a  little  while  of 
talk  they  were  determined  to  put  the  harness  on  me  to  run  it.  I  at  last 
consented  to  it,  as  it  was  a  thing  1  was  very  much  interested  in  myself, 
and  always  took  a  great  delight  in  making  my  experiments  in  farming  as 
valuable  as  it  was  possible  to  do,  not  alone  for  my  own  benefit,  but  for  my 
neighbor  farmers,  and  farmers  in  general.  So  that  is  the  way  I  was  placed 
on  the  farm  to  superintend  it.  The  farm  was  purchased  in  1865  or  1866  or 
1867 — somewhere  along  there.  There  was  no  other  experimental  farm  at 
the  time  they  purchased  this  farm. 

At  the  time  I  took  possession  of  the  farm,  as  its  superintendent,  there 
was  nothing  said  as  to  what  was  going  to  be  done  ;  there  were  no  plans 
laid  out  as  to  how  the  farm  should  be  conducted,  but  it  was  left  to  a  board 
of  managers  what  plans  to  pursue,  which  board  was  selected  by  the  Chester 
Agricultural  Society  and  the  Farmer's  Club,  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
State.  This  was  done  by  authority  from  the  trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Agricultural  College,  that  the  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society,  of 
which  Henry  Darlington,  I  think,  was  president  at  the  time,  was  to  manage 
this  eastern  experimental  farm,  of  which  1  was  superintendent;  so  the 
management  of  the  farm  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Chester  County 
Agricultural  Society.  The  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society  then  se- 
lected the  board  of  managers,  which,  I  think,  consisted  of  Lacy  Darling- 
ton, as  president,  Thomas  J.  Edge  was  vice  president,  and  I  think  Alfred 
Sharpless  was  one  of  the  managers,  and  Henry  L.  Brenton,  I  think,  was 
secretary.  It  was  decided  to  take  active  measures  at  once,  and  hasten 
views  on  the  plans  of  conduct  of  the  Eastern  Experimental  farm  that 
would  be  best  adapted  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  eastern  portion 
of  Pennsylvania. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  173 

Some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  State  became  interested  in  the  thing, 
and  gave  their  views  as  to  how  this  farm  should  be  conducted,  and  a  num- 
ber of  farmers'  clubs  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  were  also  invited  to 
present  their  views,  and  delegates  were  sent  both  by  the  agricultural 
societies  and  the  farmers'  clubs  throughout  the  eastern  part  of  the  State. 
They  all  sent  two  of  their  very  best  men  as  delegates,  who  were  considered 
a  common  agricultural  board  or  admonishionary  board,  called  as  an  advi- 
sory board.  These  delegates  were  invited  to  meet  at  the  farm.  They  did 
meet,  and  at  which  meeting.  Lacy  Darlington  was  chosen  president.  Henry 
L.  Brinton,  of  Oxford,  was  made  secretary  of  this  b:ard  of  management. 
This  board  met  from  time  to  time  and  discussed  agricultural  subjects,  and 
we  had  a  good  time  of  it,  and  some  very  important  business  was  transacted 
which  helped  us  a  great  deal  to  get  started.  Plans  after  plans  were  dis- 
cussed, as  to  what  would  be  the  best  manner  of  conducting  the  farm.  One 
of  the  first  things  that  was  done  was  to  appoint  a  committee  to  get  up  a 
programme  of  experiments,  and  a  course  of  work  to  be  pursued  on  the 
farm  during  the  ensuing  and  following  years.  This  committee  was  com- 
posed of  Mark  J.  Cox,  Thomas  Baker,  Joseph  Philips,  and  myself.  This 
committee  submitted  their  report  at  the  regular  meeting  of  the  board,  at 
which  this  programme  was  adopted,  at  which  time  Lacy  Darlington  was 
president,  and  Henry  L.  Brinton  was  secretary.  This  programme  was  di- 
vided into  different  heads,  which  heading  shows  that  particular  things  were 
wanted  done.  The  first,  improvement  of  the  soil  by  mechanical  means. 
•Under  that  head,  we  had  first  the  considering  of  the  benefit  of  draining  on 
wet  soil,  and  upland,  and  poor  land,  on  drain,  used  different  kind  of  tile, 
and  try  them  different  depths.  Every  subject  was  fully  discussed,  that  is 
contained  in  this  programme  before  it  was  adopted,  and  it  was  decided  to 
adopt  the  programme  as  the  committee  had  drafted  it.  Now  the  pro- 
gramme was  adopted,  and  the  next  question  was  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  see  that  the  programme  was  carried  out.  That  committee  was  composed 
of  Chalkley  Harvey,  Mark  J.  Cox,  Joseph  Philips,  George  Lefever,  and 
there  may  have  bee?i  another  one,  but  I  don't  remember  who  it  was  just 
now.  These  were  all  men  that  were  interested  in  farming.  Once  a  month 
they  came  here  or  some  member  of  the  committee  to  advise  me  and  consult 
with  me  as  to  the  best  means  of  carrying  out  the  programme  that  we  had 
adopted,  and  to  advise  with  me  what  purchases  to  make  in  the  way  of 
farming  implements,  stock,  &c.,  how  it  was  to  be  done  and  all  that,  and  in 
that  way  we  got  the  farm  in  a  good  shape,  and  did  what  we  wanted  to  do. 
By  the  chairman  : 

Q.  All  this  was  done  in  connection  with  the  inception  of  the  project, 
was  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now,  please  give  us  the  history  of  what  was  done  while  you  were 
superintendent  of  the  farm,  more  particularly  the  financial  part  of  it. 

A.  I  was  just  getting  to  that.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  money  raised 
by  the  people  in  the  community  here.  I  have  a  book  here  showing  what 
every  one  gave.  This  farm  never  had  any  system  of  books.  I  had  an  old 
book  lying  about.  I  got  it  down,  and  kept  the  account  of  the  farm  in  it, 
and  I  have  entered  in  it  what  was  received  in  cash,  and  also  what  was  pre- 
sented to  the  farm  in  the  way  of  implements,  stock,  seeds,  &c.  The  cash 
subscriptions  begin  with  Alfred  Cope,  Philadelphia,  $500  00. 

Hugh   E.    Steel,   Chester  county, $100  00 

Job  H.  Jackson,  "  100  00 

Thomas  Gawthrop,  "  100  00 

George  W.  Lefever,  "  ...        lOO  00 


114                                 Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Milton  Conrad,        Chester  county, $100  00 

Daniel  Pennington,            "                   100  00 

Thomas  M.  Harvey,           "                  100  00 

Evans  Pennington,            " .  50  00 

Daniel  Myres,                    "                  50  00 

Joseph  Pyle,                      "                  50  00 

Thomas  Wickersham,        "                   50  00 

James  T.  Gawthrop,          "                   50  00 

Francis  M.  Pyle,                " 50  00 

Francis  Good,                    "                   50  00 

Alfred  F.  Conrad,              ''                  50  00 

Abner  Garrett,                  "                   50  00 

James  Wilson,                    "                  50  00 

Samuel  J.  Sharpless,         " 50  00 

Dr.  J.  and  Philip  Price,     "                   50  00 

Carlile  &  Miller,                "                  50  00 

Howard  Preston,               "                   50  00 

Everard  Conrad,                "                  40  00 

Charles  Hambleton,           "                   30  00 

Henry  S.  Evans,                "                   30  00 

James  Mendenhall,            "                   25  00 

Sylvester  Linville,            "                  25  00 

Joseph  Lukens,                  "                  25  00 

Jane  T.  Jackson,               "                  .        .    .            25  00 

John  S.  Conrad,                "                  25  00 

Samuel  K.Chambers,         "      ■             25  00 

Robert  Good,                     "                   25  00 

Edwin  Conrad,                  "                  25  00 

Menander  Wood,               "                  25  00 

Nathan  Linton,                  "                  25  00 

Lewis  Michener,                "                  25  00 

Jesse  Good,                        "                  25  00 

Elias  Hicks,                        »                  ••....  25  00 

Norris  Wilkinson,             "                  25  00 

Jamos  Michener,                " 10  00 

Edward  Good,                    "                  10  00 

Samuel  Martin,                   "                  10  00 

Edward  Stewart,                "                  10  00 

Isaac  Mendenhall,              "                   10  00 

William  L.  Rakestraw,     "                   5  00 

G.  G.  Loddell,  Wilmington,  Delaware, 20  00 

Mark  J.  Cox,  Chester  county, 5  00 

Isaac  Wetherill, 5  00 

J.  William  Cox, 5  00 

Samuel  D.  Chandler, 5  00 

Robert  Lamborn , 15  00 

Eber  W.  Sharp,     .    .        2  00 

Robert  L.  Walter, 2  00 

Joel  Scarlit, 1  00 

Lewis  Walter, 2  00 

Richard  Chambers. 1  00 

William  Pyle, 2  00 

Robert  B.  Lamborn, 5  00 

George  Larkin ,  . 5  00 

John  Barnard  &  Son, 15  00 


Leg.  Doc]                   Pennsylvania  State  College.  175 

James  Pyle, $5  00 

Ebenezer  Maule, 5  00 

Milton  Darlington, 5  00 

Nathan  Maule, 5  00 

Thomas  Wood, •    10  00 

Cyrus  Hoopes, 10  00 

Joseph  Pennock, " 10  00 

Lukens  Pearoe, 10  00 

James  Barnard, 5  00 

James  N.  Taylor, 5  00 

B.  L.  Wood 5  00 

Benjamin  Seal, 5  00 

William  Pyle, 5  00 

Dr.  Elisha  Bailey, 5  00 

Isaac  Maule, 10  CO 

Emmor  R.  Green, 5  00 

Isaac  Acre, 5  00 

Morris  Cope, 10  00 

E.  B.  Taylor, 5  00 

Cash,                1  50 

Chalkley  Harvey, 10  00 

Joseph  C.  Turner, 20  00 

Job  H.  Pyle,   . 10  UO 

Abner  Marshall, 10  00 

Townsend  Speakman, 10  CO 

Aaron  Mendenhall, 10  00 

Milton  Mendenhall, 10  00 

Paxton  Price, 10  00 

William  H.  Dayton, 3  00 

Samuel  Hill, 10  00 

R.  H.  Lamborn, 5  00 

Samuel  Morris, 10  00 

John  Clark,    ...        5  00 

Edge  T.  Cope, 10  00 

Smedley  Darlington, 10  00 

Joseph  H.  Brinton, .    .  10  00 

Benjamin  J.  Passmore,     .    .    .    .    ; 5  00 

R.  Haines  Passmore, 5  00 

J.  Smith  Futhy,     .        5  00 

Washington  Townsend, - 5  00 

Wellington  Hickman, 5  00 

William  Wollerton, 5  00 

R.  E.  Monaghan, 5  00 

Caleb  Taylor, 5  00 

Fairlamb  &  Kinnard, 5  00 

Levis  Pennock,      .    .        5  00 

Evan  T.  Pennock, 5  00 

Samuel  H.  Hoopes, 5  00 

Joshua  B.  Pusey, 5  00 

William  Chalfant, 5  00 

David  Woelper, 5  00 

George  Brinton, 5  00 

John  Huey,             5  00 

Joseph  Dowdall, 5  00 

Lemuel  Henny, 5  00 


176  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

John  Hanum, $5  00 

George  Worrall, 5  00 

Ireniee  Martin,      5  00 

M.  B.  Hickman, 5  00 

Townsend  Walter, 5  00 

Edwin  James, 5  00 

Joseph  P.  Wilson,     .    .    .- 5  00 

John  P.  Barley, 5  00 

Samuel  Way,  '. • 5  00 

Washington  Hagerty, 3  00 

William  Windle, 3  00 

William  Webb, 3  00 

Jesse  J.  Hickman, 2  00 

George  B.  Sharp,  ....  2  00 

J.  Marshall, 2  00 

M.  Montgomery, 2  00 

E.  B.  Moore,  2  00 

James  A.  Strawbridge, -  .    . 

H.  Buckwalter, 

James  E.  McP'arland, 

Dr.  J.  B.  Wood, 

Caleb  B.  Ring, 

C.  L.  Kelling,  M.  D., 

F.  P.  Lefever, 

James  Sharp,      .    .        

Cash,  (W.  C.,) 

Z.  Lam  born, 

Palmer  Good, 

George  C.  Boyd, 

George  J.  Hughes, 

Darlington  Pyle, 

Joseph  Hemphill, 

T.  H.  Marshall, 

William  S.  Kirk 

Moses  Carpenter, 

E.  D.  Haines, 

J.  Hope  Heshberger, 

David  W.  Jackson, . 

Joseph  E.  Pennock, 

Jacob  Pyle, 

Chandler  Philips, 

Lewis  Maxton, 

B.  H.  Chambers, 

Mackey  Furey, 

B.  J.  Lamborn, ^    .    . 

Charles  H.  Kemball, 

E.  P.  Hoopes, 

Wilmer  T.  fields 

Jesse  K.  Reynolds, 

Ellis  P.  Wilkinson 

Samuel  Hughes, 

Enon  Cook, - . 

A.  Wood,        

B.  W.  Swayne, 

John  E.  Leonard, 


2 

00 

2 

00 

2 

00 

2 

00 

2 

00 

2 

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2 

00 

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00 

00 

00 

00 

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00 

Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  177 

F.  Warrilou, $1  00 

Wilson  Baker, 

James  Maxton, 

George  Fredd,        

Amos  Speakman, 

Jacob  Baker,      

David  Chambers, 

Cyrus  L.  Webb 

William  Taggart, 

Jesse  Haines, 

David  Humes, 

Samuel  Townsend, 

J.  C.  Worth,  .        

James  Woodward, 

Emmor  Seeds, 

Dr.  S.  A.  Meredith, 

John  Noble, 

Jonathan  Travilla, 

John  Pyle,  

Reuben  Baker,  

Edward  Chandler, 

George  C.  Nelson, 

H.  L.  Hoopes, 

Amos  House, 

Alfred  Rupert,        

D.  W.  Clinton  Lewis,    . 

John  T.  Worthington, 

Dillwyn  Parker,        

Lewis  P.  Wilkinson, 

David  Jackson, 

B.  F.  Martin,      

Chalkley  Walton, 

D.  B.  Nevin, 

Evan  Garritt, 

B.  W.  Jones,       

William  H.  Saunders, 

Joseph  L.  Taylor, 

Solomon  Harlan, 

Elijah  Baker,  .        

Milton  T.  Reynolds,      

William  Hill, 

Harlan  Baker, 

Abel  Darlington, ' 

Samuel  B.  Ortlep, 

John  T.  Hope, 

Robert  Nealy,    .    . • 

Thomas  H.  Windle, 

George  P.  Moses,      

A.  J.  Montgomery, 

L.  C.  Emery,      .        

B.  J.  V.  Miller, 

Job  Roberts,      

Harvey  Schrceh, 

R.  M.  Irwin, 

James  C.  Liggitt, 

12— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


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178  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Joseph  Briggs, 

James  Thompson, 

John  J.  Pfzzenmger, 

Amos  Snyder, 

D.  B.  Branson, 

B.  Warral, 

C.  Perdue 

C.  Buchanan, ... 

A.  H.  Reed, .    .    .    , 

Cash, 

Jonathan  Roberts, 

Evan  Rogers, 

Thomas  J.  Edge, •. 

F.  A.  Dick,  

Penrose  Briuton, 

Isaac  G.  Darlington, .' 

Jacob  Zook, 

Charles  Cook, 

William  Martin, 

H.  A.  Beal, 

Jacob  Sommers, 

Samuel  Speakman, 

R.  Strode,        

William  Mode, 

Issaehar  Price, 

Robert  S.  Scott, 

Joseph  Long,  

Robert  Young,  junior, 

Strode  Powell, 

Caleb  Lilley, 

Isaac  Spackman, 

Chester  County  Agricultural  Society, 100 

Amos  F.  Eves, 

William  C.  Worth, 

J.  M.  C.  Dickey, 

John  Wiley,  

Members  of  Oxford  Club, 

Oxford  Farmers'  Club,      

West  Grove  Farmers'  and  Gardeners'  Club, 

Total, $3,205  50 

Live  Stock  Donated  to  Experimental  Farm. 

George  Blight,  Germantown,  one  Guernsey  bull,  "  Hector,"  two 

years  old  ;  one   Guernsey  heifer,  "  Kate,''  three  months  old ; 

one  Guernsey  and  Alderney  bull,  '*  Ajax,"  one  month  old. 
Edward  B.  Taylor,  West  Chester,  one  Southdown  ram. 
Alexander  Scott,  Concord,  Pa.,  one  Southdown  ewe. 
N.  P.  Boyer,  Parkersburg,  Pa.,  two  Cashmere  goats. 
William  H.  Walters,  Kennett,  Pa.,  one  Chester  white  sow  pig. 
William  H.  Parker,  Pennsburg,  Pa.,  one  Chester  white  boar  pig. 
Samuel  J.  Sharpless,  Philadelphia,  one  Jersey  bull,  "  Iron  Duke, 

Second,"  three  years  old. 
Joseph  M.  Wade,  Philadelphia,  two  dozen  white  Brahma  eggs, 

from  which  we  have  one  fine  hen. 


$1 

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00 

00 

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5 

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20 

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5 

00 

5 

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6 

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00 

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00 

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69 

00 

Leg.  Doc.]  ,  Pj!.nnsylvania  State  College.  179 

Implements  Donated  to  the  Experimental  Farm. 

Darlington  and  Chejmey,  near  West  Chester,  one  Judson's  patent 
machine  to  sharpen  the  blades  of  mowers  and  reapers. 

John  X.  Chalfant,  Penningtonville,  Pa.,  one  grain-drill,  grass- 
seeder  and  fertilizer  attachment. 

A.  L.  Breai'ly  &  Co.,  Trenton,  New  Jerse}^,  one  Pheifer  wheel 
cultivator  and  corn  plow. 

Ezra  Sraedley,  Thorndale,  Chester  county,  one  Pratt  &  Smedley 
steel  tooth  horse-rake. 

Wade  and  Armstrong,  Philadelphia,  one  machine  to  cover  pota- 
toes, (Share's  patent.) 

S.  A.  Stevens  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  two  steel  Clipper  plows. 

James  W.  Harrison,  West  Grove,  Pa.,  one  Atwood  plow. 

Holbrook  and  Small,  Boston,  one  No.  66  Universal  plow. 

Collins  &  Co.,  New  York,  one  cast-steel  plow. 

Coonell  and  Comfort,  Newtown,  Bucks  county,  one  Miles'  plow. 

Murray,  Hartley  &  Co.,  New  Hope,  Bucks  county,  one  Wiggins' 
plow. 

George  Watt,  Richmond,  Yirginia,  one  O.  and  P.  Watt's  improved 
three-horse  plow. 

Mosley,  Rahm  &  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  one  Geometrical  plow. 

James  A.  Cresswell,  Mifflintown,  Pa.,  one  Iron  King  plow. 

William  P.  Buckly,  Pottstown,  Pa.,  two  Heckerdorn  plows. 

Solomon  Mead,  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  one  Mead's  conical 
plow  ;  one  Share's  improved  coulter  harrows,  one  plank  only 
used  ;  one  Share's  horse  hoe  and  cultivator. 

Wade  &  Armstrong,  Philadelphia,  made  a  discount  to  the  farm  of 
about  twenty  per  cent,  on  the  various  tools  and  implements  we 
bought  of  them. 

J.  Lacy,  Darlington ,  West  Chester,  presented  a  j^^airbanks'  dyna- 
mometer. 

Fairbanks  &  Ewing,  Philadelphia,  a  four-ton  hay  and  cattle  scales. 

Pennock  Ha}"  Fork  Compan3\  Kennett  Square,  Pennsylvania,  one 
Harris  harpoon  unloading  forks. 

Samuel  Cornett,  Phffinixville,  Pennsylvania,  one  Champion  un- 
loading hay  fork. 

Dr.  Hexamer,  one  Hexamer  steel  jjrong  hoe. 

,  one  Conkling  hoe. 

John  Kelsey,  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  presented  deed  of 
patent  to  manufacture  and  use  his  Kelsey  harrow  and  scraper. 

Israel  H.  Landis,  Lancaster,  gave  deed  of  patent  to  make  and  use 
his  patent  self-opening  entrance  gate. 

Enoch  Moore,  Avondale,  Pennsylvania,  gave  a  Talbot  patent 
gate  and  a  deed  of  patent  to  make  and  use  them  on  the  farm. 

William  Gray,  Avondale,  Pennsylvania,  a  very  -complete  fasten- 
ing or  latch  for  gates. 

Samuel  Pennock,  Kennett  Square,  a  discount  of  $12  on  a  corn 
sheller. 

Isaac  Rumford,  Kennett  Square,  a  powerfully  strong  sub-soil 
plow. 

The  Pennsylvania  Tornado  Root  Cutter  Company,  of  West  Ches- 
ter, Pennsylvania,  Wellington  Hickman,  president,  presented 
one  of  their  "  Tornado  root  cutters."  , 


180  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Fertilizers  Donated  to  Experimental  Farm. 

Sharpless  &  Jackson,  Kennett  Square,  Pennsylvania,  one  hundred 

bushels  of  lime. 
Levis  Barnard,  West  Grove,  Pennsylvania,  one  hundred  bushels 

of  lime,  delivered. 
Baker  &  Philips,  West  Grove,  fifty  dollars'  worth  of  lime,  at  the 

kiln. 
Samuel  Hill,  Woodland,  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania,  one  ton 

of  plaster. 
Moro  Philips,  Philadelphia,  five  tons  of  super-phosphate  of  lime. 
Baugh    &    Sons,   Philadelphia,   one  thousand   one  hundred  and 

twenty   pounds  of  raw  bone  phosphate ;    one   thousand   one 

hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of  Chicago  fertilizer. 
Alexander  Harrison,  Philadelphia,  about  one  ton  of  Harrison's 

plant  fertilizer. 
Dixon  &  Sharpless,  Philadelphia,  one  half  ton  of  Bower's  com- 
plete manure. 

C.  P.  Hewes,  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  one  ton  super-phos- 
phate of  lime. 

M.  L.  Shoemaker,  Philadelphia,  about  one  ton  of  phuine. 

Cuffc  &  Young,  Philadelphia,  four  hundred  pounds  Whann's 
raw  bone  phosphate. 

Thomas  Waring,  Colora,  Maryland,  one  barrel  of  Berry's  phos- 
phate. 

Smith  &  Harris,  Philadelphia,  two  hundred  pounds  Y.  0.  P.  fer- 
tilizer. 

Miller  &  Smith,  Reading,  Pennsylvania,  one  bag  of  super-phos- 
phate ;  one  bag  of  ground  bones. 

,  Woodworth,  Jennerville,   Pennsylvania,   part  of  bag  of 

Watson  &  Clark's  phosphate,  made  from  the  S.  C.  deposit  of 
Coprolites, 

Shafiner  &  Graham,  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  five  sacks  of  horn 
shavings  and  horn  dust. 

Seeds,  Books,  etc..  Donated. 

Edward  J.  Evans,  York,  Pennsj'lvania,  Seed  Wheat  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Washington,  seed  wheat,  oats,  barley,  vege- 
tables, seeds,  etc. 

Taylor  Pyle,  Nottingham,  Black  Poland  oats. 

N.  P.  Boyer,  Parkersburg,  Pennsylvania,  Norway  and  Surprise 
oats. 

Collins,  Alderson  &  Company,  Philadelphia,  vegetable  seed. 

D.  Landreth  &  Son,  vegetable,  and  new  and  rare  seeds. 

John   H.  Foster,  Kirkwood,  New  Jersey,  thirteen  Van  Buren's 

Golden  Dwarf  peach  trees. 
Joseph  Philips,  West  Grove,  Pennsylvania,  strawberry  plants  and 

cabbage  seeds. 
Nathan  Linton,  West  Grove,  Pennsylvania,  strawberry  and  other 

plants. 
James  A.  Ingram,  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  Hinman  potatoes. 
Charles   Hambleton,   Elk   View,   Pennsylvania,   Shakers'   fancy 

potatoes. 
Thomas  P.  Conard,  West  Grove,  Pennsylvania,  cow-horn  kidney 

potatoes. 


Leg.  Doc]                   Pennsylvania  State  College.  181 

Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Society,  thirteen  volumes  to  library. 

Joseph  M.  Wade,  Philadelphia,  six  volumes. 

Alfred  Cope,  Philadelphia,  a  large  lot  of  European  and  Ameri- 
can periodicals,  and  several  bound  works  relating  to  agriculture, 
horticulture,  etc. 

Charles  L.  Sharpless,  Philadelphia,  forty-three  yards  of  muslin 
for  hay  caps. 

Graff,  Watkins  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  forty  yards  muslin  for  hay 
caps. 

Stout,  Atkinson  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  thirty-nine  yards  muslin  for 
hay  caps. 

,  Philadelphia,  forty-eight  yards  of  thin  muslin  intended 

for  hay  caps,  but  had  to  be  exchanged. 

Inventory  of  live  stock,  tools,  and  implements  purchased  at  the  Eastern 
Experimental  farm,  from  its  commencement  up  to  eighth  of  first  month^ 
1870. 

I  now  report  the  actual  cost  of  the  article  when  we  purchased  it, 
but  do  not  add  the  freight  and  cost  of  getting  home.  Those  that  have 
since  been  sold  are  marked  thus  *  : 

Imported  Jersey  cow,  Sea  Gull, $300  00 

Grade  Aldemey  cow,  Victoria, 100  00 

Pure  Jersey  bull, Emperor,* 200  00 

One  yoke  of  roan  oxen ,         ...  360  00 

One  pair  of  mules  and  harness, 375  00 

One  bay  mare, 250  00 

One  shoat,  1868,*               10  30 

Two  other  shoats,  1869,* 18  00 

Three  young  steers,* 127  35 

Two  shoats,  1868, 18  00 

Two  pads  for  mule  collars , 20 

Two  mule  collars,    .    .            9  00 

Two  sets  stage  harness,  complete, .  47  00 

Three  stable  halters, 7  00 

Two  stable  halters, 2  00 

Two  chains  for  halters, 1  50 

Two  mule  halters  and  chains, 1  75 

One  set  of  Dearborn  harness,  . 24  00 

One  set  of  cart  harness,     ...        20  00 

One  lead  blind  bridle, 3  50 

Three  collar  pads,  .        75 

Two  pair  mule  harness , 2  00 

One  set  lead  harness , 4  50 

One  pair  of  check  lines, ....  1  62 

One  neck  yoke,        1  50 

Two  pair  double-trees,  complete, 6  50 

One  pair  double-trees,  expanding, 4  25 

One  leather  line, 25 

Three  breast  chains, 2  60 

Five  small  chains, 51 

One  set  spreaders,  large, 1  87 

One  set  small  spreaders , 25 

Three  singletrees,           48 

One  iron  jockey  stick, 25 


182                                  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Three  ox  muzzles, $0  38 

One  log  chain, 1  87 

One  ox  yoke, 8  00 

One  halter  for  calf,     . *f5 

Grindstone,  .    .            50 

One  hay  cart,  (no  wheels,)    .    .    , 22  00 

One  wheelbarrow, 2  25 

One  ox-cart, 47  00 

One  two-horse  wagon , 130  00 

One  horse-cart, 85  00 

Shelvings  for  horse-cart,  and  a  hand-barrow  for  straw,  ....  7  59 

One  tape  line, 4  00 

One  stable  bucket , 65 

One  ax  and  handle , 153 

One  barn  broom , 55 

One  telegraph  straw  cutter, 27  50 

One  Nutting  fan , 28  00 

One  Watt  steel-hinged  harrow ,  • 1957 

One  speed  tooth-hoe  harrow, 10  50 

One  fluke  tooth-hoe  harrow, 10  00 

Two  new  grain  cradles, .  10  25 

One  Holbrook  swivel  plow,       20  00 

One  double  Michigan  plow, 10  50 

One  iron  Wiley  plow, 8  50 

One  llogers  sub-soil  plow, 2  25 

One  Knox  horse  hoe,               2  50 

One  share  Coulter  harrow,  (the  old  stj^le,) 16  00 

One  Allen  potato  digger,                         ;    .    .  13  00 

One  Ferine  &  Conover  potato  assorter,             37  50 

One  Pennock  corn  sheller,  $22,  (donated  $12,) 10  00 

One  two-horse  endless  chair.,  horse  power,* 150  00 

One  governor  for  horse  power, 10  00 

Belting,     .        ...                20  00 

One  one-horse  power  thresher  and  shaker, 173  00 

One  roller, 9  07 

One  grain  cradle,  (old,) 37 

One  Ironside  corn  drill,         28  00 

One  Bourbon  hand  seed  drill, 16  00 

Ropes,  pulleys,  grapples,  &c.,  for  unloading  fork, 11  37 

Paid  mason  for  walls  of  hay  scales ,            1100 

Paid  labor,  freight,  traveling  expenses,  &c.,  of  man  who  put  up 

scales,  (cupboard,  $10,)       45  00 

Paid  for  lumber  and  sawing  for  scales , 13  85 

Portable  scales,  (Fairbanks',  700  pounds,) 35  00 

One  plow  gauge , 1  00 

Two  leading  sticks  for  bulls, ■  1   80 

One  potato  drag, 50 

One  hedge  pruner,       55 

One  barn  shovel,     ....            .    .            25 

Three  common  hoes,  25,  20  and  12  cents, 57 

One  pronged  hoe, 1  00 

One  small  hoe, ^ 60 

One  corn  hoe,  ....        1  00 

One  corn  hoe,       , 90 

One  corn  hoe,  (small,) 70 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  183 

One  small  hay  fork,    .    .        .    .        $0  30 

One  three-pronged  hay  fork, .    .  1   30 

One  two-pronged  hay  fork,        1  02 

Two  long-handled  manure  forks, 1   96 

One  short-handled  manure  fork, 1  04 

One  short-handled  patent  fork, 1  25 

One  digging  fork,  six  prongs,* 2  50 

One  digging  fork,  four  prongs, 1  40 

Two  wooden  straw  forks,  75  cents  and  90  cents', 1  65 

Two  garden  spades,  90  cents  and  $  I  30,  .    .    .  2  20 

Two  shovels,  98  cents  and  $1  25, .    .  2  23 

One  hay  knife, 1  50 

One  grub  hoe, •       112 

Three  rakes,          12 

One  dung  drag, 25 

One  sledge, '       2  13 

Two  mowing  scythes  and  hangings,  $1  60  and  $2  15, 3  75 

One  brier  scythe  and  hanging,  $1  40,      1  40 

Two  whetstones  and  one  rifle, 32 

Fifteen  hay  caps,  material  and  making,  1868,    ...  ...         19  03j 

Fifty  hay  caps,  1869,  cost,  muslin,  besides  the  donations,  $20  20  ; 

thread,  30  cents;  freight,  80  cents;  -making,  $5  00, 26  30 

Brick-bats,  and  wire  to  hold  caps  to  place, 1  67 

Two  corn  baskets,  .    .  1  80 

Two  half  bushel  measures,  60  cents  and  75  cents 1  35 

Two  willow  peach  baskets, 1  30 

One  willow  peach  basket,       80 

Ten  fine  salt  sacks,  50  cents,  .    .        .    .  .....  5  00 

Twenty-five  two-bushel  grain  bags,  45  cents, 11  25 

Fourteen  empty  boxes  to  hold  grain  arid  potatoes,      5  95 

Half  gross  pint  glass  bottles  for  samples  of  grain, 8  00 

Half  gross  corks  for  the  same,  1  00 

Five  cattle  cribs ;   cost:  material,  $29  24;  making,  $17  20,    .    .        46  44 
Imported  cow,  "  Sea  Gull,"  has  a  heifer   calf  now  about   ten 

months  old  ("Sapphire"),  valued  over 100  00 

Heifer  '•  Kate  "  has  now  puny  calf  two  weeks  old, 5  00 

A  ladder  made,  ....  75 

A  case  made  to  hold  papers,  books,  &c.,  ....  .    .         10  00 

As  to  stock  on  hand  I  cannot  make  a  positive  statement,  as  we  have  not 
all  the  grain  threshed. 

Grain,  &c.,  on  hand. 

We  had  about  eleven  acres  of  grass  for  hay,  which  made  about  one  and 
a  half  tons  to  acre,  partly  used  and  partly  on  hand. 

There  were  some  fifteen  acres  of  oats  that  averaged  about  thirty-five 
bushels  to  acre. 

Twelve  acres  of  corn  that  made  about  five  hundred  bushels  of  grain. 

Two  and  a  half  acres  of  oats  and  barley  mixed,  that  will  make  about 
thirty-five  bushels  to  acre. 

One  acre  of  pure  barley  made  about  eighteen  bushels,  and  about  eighteen 
acres  of  wheat  that  averaged  about  twenty-five  bushels  to  acre.    « 

About  three  acres  potatoes  that  averaged  about  one  hundred  and  ten 
bushels  per  acre. 

We  have  about  twenty-four  acres  of  winter  wheat  in  ground  that  looks 
now  about  .8  compared  with  last  year's  crop  at  this  time ;  also,  about  one 
and  a  half  acres  of  winter  barley,  now  looking  pretty  well. 


184  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

We  have  sold  some  seed  wheat  and  some  corn  to  our  workmen  ;  the 
balance  of  the  above  crops  generally  on  hand  or  partly  fed. 
I  cannot  see  how  to  attach  prices  to  these  uncertainties. 

Auditor's  Report. 

The  undersigned,  appointed  by  the  board  of  managers  to  audit  the 
accounts  of  Thomas  M.  Harvey,  superintendent  of  the  Eastern  Experi- 
mental farm,  make  statement  of  the  following  results  for  the  period  from 
the  Ist  of  fourth  month  to  the  1st  of  twelfth  month,  1869: 

Sales  and  receipts  account, $3,626  29^ 

Conducting  account, $871  81 

Labor  account,  1,450  42 

Stock  and  equipment  account,      1,192  4H-J 

Additions  account, 74  41 

Liming  account, 241  34 

$3,830  47i 
Deduct  debtor  balance  per  last  year's  audit,      .    .        288  73 

Total  expenditures, * 3,541  74^ 

Leaving  a  cash  balance  of  per  cash  account,        $84  55 

JOB  H.  JACKSON, 
JOSEPH   PYLE. 
West  Grove,  8th  of  first  month,  1870. 

Detail  of  cash  received  at  Eastern  Experimental  Farm  from  1st  of  fourth 
month,  1869,  to  30th  of  eleventh  month,  inclusive: 

Potatoes  sold,  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  and  one  quarter 

bushels,                                              $147  20| 

Barley  sold,  six  and  two  thirds  bushels, 9  90 

Eggs,  twenty-six  and  one  half  dozens, 5  68 

Butter,  ninety -three  pounds,                  34  74 

Apples,  two  and  one  quarter  bushels, .  112 

Pears,  one  half  bushel,           1  25 

Trees,                     .    .            ...  38  85 

Bacon,  one  hundred  and  forty-four  and  one-half  pounds,  .    ...  28  02 

Cabbage,  sixteen  heads,  .    . 1  00 

Milk,  three  quarts,          18 

Cream,  seventy  quarts,  .    .                12  81 

Corn,  one  hundred  and  one-half  bushels, ...  88  42^ 

Wheat,  seventy-two  and  one  half  bushels, 140  07^ 

Oats,  nine  and  three  quarter  bushels,      6  85 

Garden  seeds,  balance,    .    .            423  95 

Peaches,  paid  for,                                                221  99^ 

Out  doors  grapes,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-eight  and  one  half 

pounds,                                          .  63  57 

Ice,  sixtj^seven,  salt,  sixteen,  sugar,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight,          .                    ... 2  11 

Gooseberries,  five  quarts, 25 

Cider,  one  half  barrel,                         1  50 

Corn  fodder,  one  hundred  bundles, 3  00 

Beef,  five  and  three  quarter  pounds, 75 


Leg,  Doc]                   Pennsylvania  State  College.  186 

Herring,  fort3'-eight, |0   12 

Bark,  sixtj'-two  feet, .    •    •    •    .    .  4  85 

Lard,  one  pound, 20 

Beets,  one  peck,           '       25 

Pies  and  dinners  sold, 212 

Muslin,  (thin,)  sold,  forty-eight  and  one  half  by  six  and  one  half,  3  16 

Spading  fork  sold, 2  00 

Yiruinia  steer  sold, 66  00 

Bull,  Emperor,  sold, 100  00 

Received  for  work  done  on  roads, 375 

Received  for  keeping  cattle  and  horses,  .        94  74 

Received    from    J.    Lacy    Darlington,    president    agricultural 

society, .  150  00 

Received  from  George  W.  Lefever,  vice  president  agricultural 

society,                                                                      250  00 

Received  from  C.  Harvev,  (Chadd's  Ford  club,)      80  00 

Received  from  J.  T.  Philips,  (West  Grove  club,)      69  00 

Received  from  J.  S.  Hope,  (VVest  Brandy  wine  club,) 21  00 

Received  from  Joseph  C.  Turner,  (excursion,)          35  00 

Recei.ed  from  Edward  Good, 10  00 

Received  from  W.  H.  Dayton,  .  .  3  00 
Received  from  Agricultural  College,  (belonging  to  last  year,)  .  1,000  00 

Received  from  Agricultural  College  for  current  year,      ....  500  00 


$3,623  02 


By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  For  what  time  did  these  donations  extend,  beginning  with  sixty-eight 
and  continued  how  many  years  ? 

A.  To  the  first  of  thej-ear  1870.  At  last  George  Lefever,  who  was  very 
much  in  earnest  about  the  thing,  and  especially-  in  raising  mone}*,  took  it 
in  his  head  that  ever\'  man  he  met  would  have  to  give  him  something  to- 
ward the  support  of  this  farm,  and  asked  every  man  to  pay  him  one  dollar 
that  he  met.  And  almost  every  man  he  met  did  give  him  one  dollar  be- 
fore he  got  away  from  him,  and  that  accounts  for  so  many  one  dollar  sub- 
scriptions. Here,  I  see,  are  some  that  only  paid  fift^"  cents,  (looking  at 
the  account,)  and  as  you  get  down  near  to  the  bottom  of  the  list,  I  see 
Evan  Rodgers  gave  twenty  dollars.  The  Chester  County  Agricultural 
Society,  one  hundred  dollars,  and  the  Oxford  Farmers'  Club,  twenty  dol- 
lars, and  the  West  Grove  Farmers'  and  Gardeners'  Club,  sixty-nine  dollars. 

Q.  Do  you  know  what  the  sum  total  of  the  cash  donations  is  ? 

A.  Xo,  sir;  I  do  not.     I  have  not  footed  it  up.     I  did  count  it  up  once, 
but  it  has  not  been  put  down  in  here  in  the  book,  and  I  could  not  tell 
without  adding  it  up.     Then  they  have  given  donations  of  agricultural 
implements  also. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  i  want  to  ask  Mr.  Harvej'  whether  the  amounts  of  these  contribu- 
tions are  not  credited  in  the  reports  published  bj^  the  State  Agricultural 
College — report  of  the  trustees,  1  mean. 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  think  they  are.  In  addition  to  the  committee  I* have  al- 
ready mentioned,  we  had  a  committee,  of  which  one  was  Job  H.  Jackson, 
that  were  to  purchase  isiplements,  and  this  money  was  used  mainly  for  that 
purpose.  At  the  time  we  sold  the  farm  we  sold  out  our  own  personal  prop- 
erty', the  total  amounting  to  $1,000,  more  or  less.  Besides,  we  got  a  great 
deal  of  stock  from  the  agricultural  societies  that  were  not  paid  for  at  all — 


186  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

that  were  given  to  us — so  we  started  with  what  we  could  get  in  that  way, 
and  what  we  didn't  have  and  could  not  get  along  without  we  had  to  borrow 
from  our  neighbor  farmers.  In  this  way  this  farm  was  stocked  and  started. 
There  was  a  great  many  things  given  us  in  the  sh?pe  of  farming  imple- 
ments, so  that  we  had  obtained  aa  abundant  supply  of  more  than  we  needed 
of  some  things  and  some  things  we  needed  very  much  we  hadn't  at  all.  I 
will  refer  yoii  to  the  report  of  the  college  of  1870  to  what  was  wanted  here. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Is  that  your  report  of  the  Eastern  Experimental  farm  for  the  col- 
lege ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Will  you  give  title  of  it  ? 

A.  "  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Agricultural  College  of 
Pennsylvania  for  the  year  1810."     This  is  the  third  one. 

Q.  Will  you  now  refer  to  the  fertilizers  ?  I  see  here  are  mentioned  fer- 
tilizers on  grass,  &c. 

A.  On  pages  63  and  64  of  the  report  of  1869  you  will  find  where  the  ex- 
periments were  with  commercial  fertilizers  on  potatoes.  I  presume  we 
had  in  all  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  different  kinds  of  fertilizers.  We 
got  everything  in  the  way  of  fertilizers  that  we  could  get,  for  it  was  the 
object  of  the  exeprimental  farm  to  get  everything  that  came  out.  The  idea 
was  to  try  everything  and  keep  a  correct  account  of  the  results  of  it,  so  as 
it  would  be  a  benefit  to  every  person  that  was  interested  in  scientific  farm- 
ing. We  tried  these  different  kinds  of  fertilizers  on  potatoes  in  man}^ 
different  ways.  We  planted  the  potatoes  in  more  than  a  hundred  different 
ways.  I  think  some  were  planted  two  inches  deep, some  seven  inches;  and 
then  we  planted  potatoes  that  were  cut  at  different  times  for  seed,  went 
through  with  them  in  the  same  way  by  planting  some  two  inches,  some 
seven,  some  three  and  one  half,  and  some  were  cut  four  weeks  before  plant- 
ing, some  cut  at  the  timf  of  planting ;  different  ways  of  planting  them. 
Then  we  experimented  on  wheat.  There  were  fiftv  varieties  of  wheat.  This 
is  no  guess  work.  It  is  the  actual  results  of  experiments  we  tried  on  this 
farm.  So  far  as  I  was  concerned  I  watched  everything  with  my  own  eyes. 
I  did  hot  trust  any  one  to  do  it  without  my  supervision. 

Q.  I  presume  all  the  products  of  the  farm  were  cr;dited  to  it  ? 

A.  .Yes,  sir;  everything  that  was  taken  off  the  farm  was  sold.  As  a 
matter  of  course  we  planted  a  great  many  things  that  turned  out  practi- 
cally useless,  but  that  was  the  great  object  of  experimental  farming,  to  find 
out  what  was  worth  while  doing  and  what  was  not.  That  is  what  the 
farmers  of  Pennsylvania  wanted  to  know.  For  instance,  in  planting  corn 
we  were  desirous  of  knowing  at  what  depth  corn  planted  would  grow,  at 
what  depth  grow  most  rapidly,  and  what  depth  it  would  not  grow  at  all ; 
so  we  planted  some  corn  seven  inches  deep  ;  we  planted  a  certain  number 
of  grains  of  corn  seven  inches  ;  onl^^  one  grain  came  up  out  of  twenty-four 
but  amounted  to  nothing ;  at  six  inches  only  six  grains  came  up  out  of 
twenty-four,  and,  coming  on  down  to  one  inch  and  a  half,  nineteen  grains 
out  of  the  twenty-four  grew.  We  demonstrated  by  giving  experiments — 
that  to  "plant  corn  deeper  than  two  inches  there  would  be  less  than  half  of 
it  not  likely  to  grow,  and  that  the  best  depth  for  planting  corn  was  from 
one  to  one  and  a  half  or  two  inches  deep,  which  was  worth  a  considerable 
for  a  farmer  to  know.  Well,  now  I  have  gotten  on,  I  have  got  you  prop- 
erly started  with  this  experimental  farm.  It  takes  over  one  hundred  pages 
to  describe  all  the  experiments  of  these  experiments  on  this  farm  in  1870. 
In  1881  it  takes  twenty,  and  then  there  is  almost  two  pages  of  it  taken  up 
by  an  essay  on  "  Hardy  Catalpa  of  Central  Pennsylvania,"  and  the  re- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  18t 

mainder  of  the  space  is  taken  up  with  things  relating  to  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College,  and  it  has  very  little  to  say  upon  the  subject  of  experimental 
farming.  From  what  I  can  understand  of  it,  it  is  a  very  mysterious  way 
of  treating  the  subject  of  scientific  agriculture.  This  essay  of  "  Hai'dy 
Catalpa  of  Central  Pennsylvania,"  I  would  ask  what  it  has  to  do  with  the 
matter  that  these  pages  are  intended  for,  and  then  why  is  the  report  re- 
stricted to  twenty  pages,  and  then  almost  two  pages  of  that  taken  up 
with  an  essay  that  can  be  of  no  possible  use  to  the  farmer  ?  I  would  say 
that  it  would  be  a  great  deal  better  on  the  culture  of  ducks  or  on  the 
raising  of  chickens  in  a. way  which  would  be  profitable,  'ihe  catalpa  is  a 
tree  that  grows  here  in  our  county,  and  we  would  like  to  know  how  to  get 
rid  of  it.  Now,  is  there  any  sense  in  wasting  the  money  of  the  State  in  a 
public  institution  like  that  ?  I  would  like  you  to  tell  me  what  is  the  use 
of  it. 

Q.  That  is  in  the  report  of  18S1 ,  is  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  Now,  in  the  next  place,  look  at  the  list  of  students  of  this 
college.  We  count  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  altogether,  then  we  de- 
duct twelve  names  inserted  twice,  which  leaves  one  hundred  and  sixt^'-four 
students  in  attendance  there  during  the  last  year.  Thisincludes  the  stu- 
dents attending  in  the  classical  course,  and  all  of  that  kind  which  it  was 
never  intended  that  this  institution  should  receive  this  money  for  to  ex- 
pend it.  We  have  very  good  classes  of  colleges  in  the  State  where  per- 
sons who  desire  to  pursue  the  classes  of  that  kind  can  go  and  receive  the 
very  best  kind  of  a  classical  education.  The  trouble  is  these  farms  are 
being  stultified  at  the  expense  of  this  college  in  Centre  county.  Here  is  a 
list  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  students,  and  I  believe  one  hundred  and  five 
of  them  are  in  the  preparatory  department.  Now,  it  was  never  intended 
that  there  should  be  a  preparatory  department  connected  with  this  insti- 
tution ;  but  in  all  of  the  list  I  can  find  no  students  that  are  pursuing  an 
agricultural  course.  There  has  not  been  one  graduate  turned  out  by  this 
college  yet  who  has  tafeen  a  pure  agricultural  course  ;  and  then  if  you 
want  any  chemical  analyses,  it  is  impossible — you  can't  have  it  done.  I 
have  known  persons  to  have  written  there  repeatedly  to  have  analyses 
made,  but  never  got  any.  John  Carter  wanted  to  know  the  relative  value 
of  ashes,  and  he  sent  it  to  the  State  College  to  have  an  analysis  made  or 
for  the  information  he  wanted,  but  he  never  got  anj'thing  from  them.  He 
wrote  several  times  but  he  never  got  a  reply ;  he  never  got  word  on  the 
subject  from  them.  I  can't  give  the  reason  for  this,  but  in  the  first  place, 
I  think  they  didn't  know  how  to  do  it,  and  in  the  second  place,  they  have 
always  been  very  pogr. 

Q.  You  have  stated,  Mr.  Harvey,  that  you  were  superintendent  of  this 
farm  for  three  years,  down  from  1867  to  1868  and  1870  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  did  you  come  to  leave  the  farm,  Mr.  Harvey? 

A.  These  experiments  were  carried  on  for  three  years,  then  there  was  a 
new  series  of  experiments  suggested  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  col- 
lege that  interfered  very  much  with  our  programme  of  experiments  that 
we  had  adopted  and  we  got  along  with  very  ricely.  T  was  very  much  dis- 
gusted with  the  plans  they  wanted  us  to  adopt.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
there  were  a  few  very  good  suggestions  among  them,  but  the  most  of 
them  were  very  ridiculous;  and,  rather  than  do  these  ridiculous  things,  I 
quit  the  farm,  and  did  not  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  During 
the  t'me  I  was  on  the  farm  I  took  great  delight  in  doing  whatever  was  re- 
quired of  me.  There  was  a  committee  appointed  ;  I  think  Chalkley  Har- 
vey, George  Lefever,  and  Joseph   P3de  composed  the  committee.     That 


188  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

committee  was  known  as  the  advisory  committee,  a  committee  to  direct 
how  these  experiments  should  be  carried  out,  and  T  think  my  neighbor 
farmers  here  will  all  agree  that  I  was  very  obedient  to  obey  their  orders 
in  every  particular  ;  indeed,  I  took  universal  delight  in  doing,  as  near  as 
I  could,  what  they  would  say  and  was  always  glad  to  have  their  counsel. 
These  gentlemen  were  all  very  much  interested  in  the  success  of  the  ex- 
periments, as  they  were  all  practical  farmers  themselves  and  it  was  of 
great  use  to  them  in  conducting  their  farms.  There  was  hardly  a  week 
but  what  some  one  of  these  gentlemen  would  come  to  see  how  I  was  get- 
ting along.  I  was  always  delighted  to  see  them  come,  and  in  our  meet- 
ings we  discussed  the  experiments  that  we  were  trying,  and,  in  fact, 
watched  them  very  closely  ;  and  when  the  time  came  to  make  up  my  re- 
ports to  the  college  1  always  had  a  great  many  things  to  report.  Lacey 
Darlington  was  also  very  much  interested  in  the  progress  we  made.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  board  of  the  trustees  of  the  college  and  came  very 
often  to  see  me.  These  experiments,  while  I  was  superintendent,  was  all 
done  under  the  programme  of  experiments  we  had  adopted,  and  we  got 
along  very  well  during  the  whole  time  we  worked  under  this  programme 
and  while  we  were  not  interfered  with  by  the  trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Agricultural  College.  We  made  our  report  regularly  to  the  college,  at 
the  end  of  every  year,  and  that  is  about  all  we  had  to  do  with  the  Penn- 
sylvania Agricultural  College  or  its  board  of  trustees.  We  could  never 
get  any  money  from  the  college,  and  we  thought  we  had  perfect  right  to 
conduct  it  as  we  saw  fit  and  try  such  experiments  as  would  be  of  the 
most  use  to  us  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  as  the  experiments  we 
wanted  to  try  here  and  what  would  be  of  most  use  to  us  would  not  be  of 
the  same  benefit  to  the  central  or  western  portion  of  the  State.  We 
paid  attention  very  particularly  to  practical  farming,  raising  vegetables 
and  things  for  the  city  market ;  while  the  central  part  of  the  State  was 
more  engaged  in  grain  raising,  and  the  western  in  the  raising  of  stock  for 
the  cattle  market.  Things  moved  along  in  this  way  ver^'^  nicely  for  about 
three  years,  when  we  were  informed  to  meet  at  Harrisburg  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drafting  another  programme  of  experiments. 

Q.  When  was  this,  Mr.  Harvey  ? 

A.  I  can't  give  j^ou  the  dates.  I  had  run  this  farm  for  about  three 
years,  and  got  along  very  well,  and  there  was  no  need  in  changing  the  pro- 
gramme of  experiments.  But  it  was  in  the  winter  sometime,  that  we  were 
invited  to  appear  at  Harrisburg,  to  meet  a  committee  appointed  to  discuss 
the  propriety  of  adopting  another  series  of  experiments  for  the  Eastern, 
Western,  and  Central  experimental  farms  of  Pennsylvania,  when  we  got 
there,  to  Harrisburg,  it  turned  out  to  be  a  committee  ;  the  committee 
turned  out  to  be  H.  N.  McAllister,  of  Centre  county  ;  A.  Boyd  Hamilton, 
of  Dauphin  county  ;  Thomas  A.  Burrows,  President  of  Pennsylvania  Agri- 
cultural College ;  Daniel  Knapp,  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Agricultural  Society;  B.  Carter,  Superintendent  of  the  Western  experi- 
mental farm,  and  D.  Lacy  Darlington  and  myself  We  were  invited  to  be 
there  to  get  up  a  new  programme  of  experiments,  so  as  ro  run  the  Eastern 
experimental  farm  in  consort  with  the  other  two  farms.  The  members 
of  this  committee  were  pretty  fair  representative  men  of  the  various  in- 
terests in  the  State.  We  met  there  on  one  day  to  hold  the  meeting,  but 
were  not  there  for  many  minutes,  until  Thomas  H.  Burrows  made  an  ex- 
cuse to  leave,  and  pretty  soon  Mr.  Kapp  had  to  leave,  and  so  the  members 
left  one  after  another  until  there  was  no  one  left  but  Hamilton,  McAllister, 
Darlington,  and  myself.  We  wanted  to  discuss  the  subject  of  introducing 
new  experiments,  but  there  was  no  opportunity  to  do  so,  as  Mr.  McAllister 


Leg,  Doc]  Pennsylvania  IState  College.  189 

had  evidently  came  there  to  run  the  meeting  of  that  committee,  and  he  did 
so,  too.  We  proposed  measures  that  we  should  like  to  have  presented  and 
discussed,  but  we  could  not  have  any  of  our  measures  adopted.  They 
would  not  even  hear  us  discuss  them,  and  anything  we  presented  they  laid 
immediately  upon  the  table ;  so  we  talked  around  there  for  sometime,  and 
the  first  thing  we  knew  McAllister  pulled  out  of  his  pocket  a  large  roll  of 
papers,  on  which  he  had  written  out  a  series  of  experiments,  some  of  which 
were  the  most  ridiculous  of  anything  I  had  ever  heard.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few,  which  were  very  good  and  would  have  paid  us  to  have 
adopted,  the  most  of  them  we  had  already  been  experimenting  with  on 
our  Eastern  experimental  farm,  that  were  included  in  this  programme  of 
experiments  which  we  have  given  you  a  copy  of,  I  tried  to  persuade  Mr. 
McAllister  that  some  of  his  experiments  were  perfectly  absurd  to  try,  but 
we  could  not  get  a  hearing  there,  and  we  left  them  in  disgust.  We  saw 
they  were  determined  to  adopt  the  programme  which  he  had  gotten  up, 
and  there  was  no  use  for  us  to  say  anything  one  way  or  the  other.  I  think 
I  went  to  the  hotel  for  the  evening,  and  the  next  morning  started  home ; 
didn't  attend  the  meeting  of  the  next  morning.  I  think  Darlington  stayed 
there,  but  I  do  not  know  whether  he  was  at  the  meeting.  Mr.  McAllister 
would  not  hear  to  anything  that  we  had  to  say,  and  was  very  arbitrary  and 
didn't  even  pay  us  enough  of  respect  to  listen  to  what  we  had  to  say  on 
the  subject.  We  had  some  very  good  suggestions  to  make,  but  they  would 
not  take  any  of  our  suggestions,  and  we  thought,  therefore,  we  would 
not  '  submit  to  their  programme  of  experiments.  I  never  worked  by 
their  programme  nf  experiments,  and  concluded  before  I  would  adopt 
that  progromme  I  would  quit  the  farm  first,  and  that  is  the  waj'  I  came 
to  leave  it.  I  was  not  going  to  spend  my  time.  I  was  not  going  to  spend 
time  which  I  considered  was  very  valuable,  and  which  I  was  spending  for 
the  information  of  my  fellow-farmers.  I  took  great  delight  in  dispensing 
information  to  my  friends,  taking  their  suggestions  when  they  had  one  to 
give,  and  I  think  my  neighbor  farmers  will  say  that  I  done  so,  and  that  I 
conducted  the  farm  conscientiouslj'  and  carefidly.  At  this  meeting  I  had 
taken  along  our  programme  of  experiments,  but  they  didn't  do  us  as  much 
of  an  honor  as  even  to  look  at  them.  McAllister  was  very  headstrong,  and 
would  not  listen  to  anything  that  did  not  come  from  him  ;  and  I  think  for 
ridiculous  ideas  he  beat  anything  I  ever  saw.  He  was  like  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  and  would  not  bend  a  bit  to  anything  that  was  against  his  idea. 
He  wanted  everything  his  own  way.  They  adopted  this  programme  of 
McAllister's,  and  wanted  me  to  introduce  it  here.  I  refused  to  do  so,  and 
I  notified  Lacy  Darlington,  who  was  trustee  at  the  time,  that  I  would  not 
carry  out  that  programme.  Before  I  would  do  it  I  would  leave  the  farm. 
I  didn't  want  to  be  disgraced  with  that  kind  of  proceedings.  One  of  the 
experiments  I  remember  of  was  on  his  programme,  was  to  take  corn  from 
the  butt  end  of  the  ear,  from  the  middle,  and  from  the  top,  and  plant  it  side 
by  side,  and  see  what  the  results  of  it  would  be.  I  laughed  at  the  idea, 
and  told  him  that  would  never  do,  and  told  him  that  the  corn  would  be 
mixed,  and  you  could  not  help  it.  1  tried  to  convince  him  of  this,  but 
before  I  did  so  I  went  on  and  showed  him  where  I  had  planted  black  and 
yellow,  diflferent  varieties  of  corn,  alongside  of  each  other  in  rows,  and 
showed  him  how  it  became  mixed,  which  was  something  we  knew  many 
years  before  that.  In  order  to  carry  out  his  programme  we  would  have 
to  have  a  great  many  more  experimental  plots  than  what  we  then  had,  and 
in  order  to  get  them  up  would  have  been  wasting  valuable  time,  and  in  the 
end  would  not  amount  to  anything. 


190  ■  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  Was  this  second  programme  substituted  while  you  were  superintend- 
ent? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  toward  the  last  end  of  the  term  I  was  superintendent.  I 
would  not  woi'k  under  his  programme,  and  there  was  beginning  to  be  too 
much  outside  interference  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college,  and 
which  came  principally  from  McAllister.  The  result  of  this  pi-ogramme 
of  McAllister's  was  to  run  the  thing  into  the  ground.  I  thought  it  was 
really  impudent  on  the  part  of  McAllister  to  dictate  everything  that  we 
should  try  in  the  way  of  experiments  on  the  Eastern  farm.  We  knew  bet- 
ter what  was  adapted  to  the  interest  of  our  farmers  in  the  Eastern  portion 
of  the  State  than  he  did,  and  that  we  were  to  be  cut  off  in  this  manner 
was  more  than  I  could  stand.  I  never — we  never — got  any  money  from 
the  college  to  try  these  experiments.  When  we  first  started  we  had  the 
promise  of  a  thousand  dollars  to  give  to  the  experimental  farm,  but  we 
never  got  it.  One  time  in  the  early  history  of  the  farm  1  received  a  letter 
from  Judge  Watts,  who  was  very  much  interested  in  the  programme  of 
experiments  we  had  adopted,  and  he  said  he  knew  we  did  not  have  much 
money,  so  he  inclosed  his  check  for  $500,  and  it  is  not  paid  yet  to  my 
knowledge ;  and  I  think  it  is  a  great  shame  for  the  Pennsylvania  Agricul- 
tural College  to  spend  $3t>,<i00  they  get  from  the  State  every  year,  and  not 
pay  this  money  that  Judge  Watts  advanced  for  the  interest  of  the  experi- 
mental farm,  as  his  famil}',  I  am  told,  need  it  very  much.  But  as  you  pro- 
ceed in  your  investigation  you  will  find  many  steps  quite  as  black  as  this 
one  connected  with  this  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  College,  such  as  have 
been  a  disgrace  to  our  State. 

Q.  What  wouW  you  suggest  should  be  done  with  this  farm  ? 

A.  Well,  I  am  hardh'  prepared  to  say  what  should  be  done  with  it.  They 
have  agricultural  experimental  stations  that  give  a  great  deal  of  informa- 
tion to  the  farmers,  but  whether  that  would  be  the  right  thing  either,  I  do 
not  know.  But  the  way  the  thing  is  run  now  it  gives  no  information  to 
nobody.  There  is  no  use  in  spending  people's  money  in  keeping  it  up 
in  this  st3de.  There  was  never  a  word  said  as  to  dairy  farming,  and 
I  never  needed  so  much  information  on  that  subject  as  I  do  now,  but  I 
can't  get  it  from  the  agricultural  college.  I  can't  find  out  whether  the 
silo  process  is  the  best  or  some  other  way — the  common  way  of  preparing 
fodder — in  order  how  to  feed'  cows  so  as  to  have  them  give  the  largest 
quantity  and  the  best  quality  of  milk.  Information  of  that  kind,  I  think, 
it  is  very  important  that  the  experimental  farms  should  give.  Indeed,  I 
am  not  prepared  to  say  what  would  be  the  best  thing  to  do.  I  think  a 
farm  like  the  present  one,  with  more  money  to  run  it,  could  be  made  a  very 
valuable  thing  for  the  farmers  of  our  part  of  the  State.  Then  in  horticul- 
ture. The  experiments  that  I  was  carrying  on  in  that  science  was  becom- 
ing very  valuable.  To  illustrate  what  I  was  doing  in  that  way  :  I  wanted 
to  find  out  the  best  time  to  trim  apple  trees.  I  commenced  and  cut  off'  a 
limb  of  the  apple  tree  on  a  certain  day  in  the  year,  and  cut  off'  a  limb  every 
day  for  twelve  months,  to  find  out  what  time  it  should  be  cut  off*  so  as  to 
heal  most  rapidly  and  best.  Some  would  heal  without  any  ditliculty, 
others  would  not  heal  so  soon,  and  some  would  not  heal  at  all.  Now,  that 
is  a  very  important  thing  for  farmers  to  know  when  is  the  best  time  in  the 
year  to  trim  or  prune  their  apple  trees.  I  believe  an  agricultural  station, 
with  a  library  attached,  could  be  made  to  be  a  very  valuable  thing  in  this 
country  where  young  men  could  go  and  take  a  course  of  studies  in  agri- 
culture during  the  winter  and  having  the  benefits  of  all  the  experiments 
made  by  the  experimental  station.  They  would  be  very  willing  to  pay  for 
the  information  that  could  be  obtained  at  places  of  that  kind  during  the 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College. 

winter  months,  when  they  could  not  do  much  on  the  farm^ 
should  be  made  to  pay  a  great  many  of  the  expenses  which 
curred  in  making  expenditures. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  do  you  think  an  agricultural  experimental  station  could 
be  made  self-sustaining  ? 

A.  Oh,  no,  I  don't ;  for  I  think  there  would  be  no  income  connected  with 
it  at  all  from  the  experiments  that  would  be  made.  1  think  the  experi- 
ments would  cost  more  than  the  products,  but  we  would  have  results  of 
the  experiments,  and  that  would  pay  for  the  benefits  of  other  persons  that 
was  interested  in  farming,  but  the  money  paid  by  these  persons  attending 
the  experimental  station  would  go  toward  paying  expenses. 

Q.  How  would  you  conduct  the  agricultural  experimental  station — where 
would  you  get  the  means  to  run  it  ? 

A.  Well,  these  experimental  farms — take  the  money  arising  from  the  sale 
of  these  and  establish  an  agricultural  experimental  station,  and  then  ap- 
propriate the  money  that  is  given  to  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  for 
this  purpose,  which  would  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  people  of  Pennsyl- 
vania ? 

Q.  Do  you  think  there  has  been  made  any  foreign  use  of  the  money  that 
should  have  gone  to  this  farm  ;  what  is  your  knowledge  on  that  subject  ? 

A.  'So,  sir ;  1  do  not.  I  think  the  institution  has  always  been  very  poor. 
That  was  the  great  trouble.  Thej'  wanted  to  do  more  than  what  the3^  had 
money  to  do  it  with,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  farmers  were  the  ones 
that  suttered  by  that  proceedings.  I  have  no  charge  to  make  about  the 
willful  mis-spending  of  the  money,  but  some  of  the  people  connected  with 
this  department  have  made  evasions  in  which  you  might  look  into.  One 
time  there  was  a  meeting  held  on  the  land  here  of  the  Farmers'  Club,  when 
the  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  was  present  and  made  a  speech.  They 
would  like  to  do  this'  and  that,  how  much  they  would  like  to  keep  us,  and 
do  so  and  so  for  the  farm,  and  all  that  kind  of  thing  he  said.  He  said  thej'' 
didn't  have  the  money  to  do  so,  and  made  a  very  eloquent  and  sensible 
speech,  and  he  would  have  made  a  very  good  impression  here  if  he  had  not  in 
the  course  of  his  speech  read  the  act  incorporating  the  Pennsylvania  State 
College,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  us  what  amount  of  money  the  college 
had  the  right  to  receive  from  the  State,  and  in  reading  the  act  he  left  out 
the  most  vital  part  of  it.  I  will  leave  it  to  my  neighbor  farmers  here  if 
that  is  not  so.  Chalkley  Harvey  knows  that.  John  Plowshare,  was  it  not 
so  ?     "  Yes  ;  it  was  so." 

Under  the  condition  that  the  college  was  to  receive  this,  the  trustees 
were  to  establish,  conduct,  and  maintain  three  experimental  farms.     In 
reading  the  act,  he  left  that  part  of  it  out. 
By  Mr.  Alexander: 

Q.  to  whom  do  you  refer,  Mr.  Harvey  ? 

A.  Why,  General  Beaver.  I  did  not  want  to  be  personal,  and,  there- 
fore, did  not  want  tt  mention  his  name.  He  made  a  very  flattering  speech, 
but  in  reading  the  act  he  left  out  that  part  of  it  which  was  the  naost  vital 
part  in  the  whole  act. 

Q.  What  act  do  you  refer  to — the  act  of  Congress  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  the  act  which  required  the  establishing,  conducting,  and 
maintaining  of  three  experimental  farms. 

Q.  Then  it  was  the  act  of  February  19,  1867  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  that  must  be  it.  The  three  most  important  words  I  see  in 
the  act  he  left  out.  Now,  I  will  give  you  another  thing  that  you  ought  to 
investigate.     At  the  time  this  programme  committee  met  at  Harrisburg,  I 


192  Report  of  the  Committee.  L^o-18, 

found  out  something  of  the  purchase  of  the  Western  experimental  farm. 
I  got  some  information  there  that  you  don't  get  out  of  the  reports.  There 
are  $2,000  covered  up  there,  in  the  purchase  of  the  farm,  that  ought  not 
to  have  been  there.  Two  thousand  slipped  out  of  the  money  appropriated 
for  the  purchase  of  the  farm  for  other  purposes  than  what  the  act  intended 
it.  Harry  White  knows  all  about  it.  I  found  it  out  through  Carter,  the 
man  they  bought  the  farm  from.  He  said  they  were  to  pay  him  $16,000 
for  the  farm,  but  the  reports  show  that  the  trustees  paid  $1S,000  for  it. 
The  report  shows  that  they  paid  $18,113  55,  when  Carter  says  he  was  only 
to  be  paid  $16,000  for  it.  There  was  a  misapplication  of  over  $2,000. 
Now,  there  is  something  you  can  trace  up,  and  see  where  that  was  done. 
Bv  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  Do  you  mean  to  say,  Mr.  Harvey,  that  the  $2,000  were  appropriated 
by  tne  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

A.  No;  I  don't  know  that  that  was  the  case.  I  think  they  needed 
buildings  there,  and  they  had  no  money  for  that  purpose,  and  could  take 
none  of  this  money  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  the  farm  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  so  they  just  put  the  farm  in  just  $2,000  more  than  what  they 
paid  for  it. 

Q.  Then  you  think  that  this  $2,000  that  you  say  was  slipped  out  was 
appropriated  to  putting  up  buildings  ? 

A.  It  was  intended  for  that  purpose,  but  I  don't  know  what  they  did 
with  it.  But,  if  they  did  use  it  for  building  purposes,  it  was  something 
they  had  no  right  to  do,  under  the  act  of  Legislature.  There  was  another 
mysterious  thing  with  the  rapDrt  of  the  trustees  at  Harrisburg.  I  hap- 
pened to  be  at  Harrisburg.  for  the  purpose  of  knowing  something  about 
the  report  of  the  trustees  of  the  college.  I  went  there  several  times,  but 
the  report  was  not  handed  in.  So  I  went  there  one  time,  and  asked  John 
SmuU,  who  was  clerk  of  the  House  for  a  long  time,  to  see  the  report  of 
the  college.  He  handed  me  the  report,  and  when  we  came  to  examine  it, 
we  found  that  several  pages  of  the  report  were  pinned  together,  and  when 
they  came  to  report  the  report  in  the  House,  as  a  matter  of  course,  they 
didn't  read  what  was  contained  on  these  pages  that  were  pinned  together. 
I  read  them  over.  I  know  it  was  sonaething  important,  but  what  it  was 
I  have  really  forgotten. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  that  part  of  it  was  printed  afterwards  in  the 
Legislative  Record  ? 

A.  I  don't  know  whether  it  was  or  not ;  but  in  the  reading  of  the  report 
before  the  House  it  was  omitted,  and  that  was  the  reason  the  pages  were 
pinned  together,  no  doubt,  so  as  they  need  not  be  read  in  the  House. 

Q.  What  year  was  that  in,  Mr.  Harvey  ? 

A.  I  don't  remember  what  year  it  was  in,     Chalkley  Harvey,  can  you 
tell  what  year  it  was  in  ? 
Chalkley  Harvey  : 

A.  I  think  it  was  in  1862  or  1863. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  In  regard  to  this  $2,000,  is  it  your  idea  that  it  was  distributed 
among  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

A.  Oh,  no ;  not  at  all.     We  don't  mean  to  attribute  to  these  men  any 
fraudulent  acts  whatever.     There  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  was  slipped  out, 
and  intended  to  be  used  for  building  purposes,  &c.,  but  why  it  was  done  I 
don't  know.     1  never  seen  or  heard  anything  about  it  since. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  Do  you  know,  of  your  own  knowledge,  that  such  was  the  fact  that 
$2,000  had  been  slipped  out  of  the  money  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of 


Leg.  Doo.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  193 

buying  this  farm,  and  used  for  putting  up  buildings — dc  you  know  that 
to  be  a  fact  ? 

A.  I  do.  The  man  that  sold  them  the  laud  told  me  himself.  He  told 
me  what  sum.  He  said  that  the  report  shows  that  the  farm  cost  $18,000 
were  not  true,  for  he  had  sold  the  farm  at  $16,000.  Mr.  Carter  told  me 
that  himself;  and  if  you  will  ask  Mr.  Carter,  and  he  will  tell  you  all  about 
it,  if  he  is  living. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Mr.  Carter  is  dead,  is  he  not  ? 

A.  I  don't  know ;  I  think  I  have  heard  that  he  was. 

Q.  Yes,  sir,  that  is  a  fact ;  Mr.  Carter  is  dead  ;  so  we  have  no  means  of 
ascertaining  from  him  whether  it  was  true  or  not. 

A.  Well,  there  is  Henry  White  ;  I  suppose  he  can  tell  you  all  about  it. 
He  was  connected  with  it,  and  can  explain  all  about  it,  if  you  want  to 
know.     He  is  still  living. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Have  you  anything  to  suggest,  Mr.  Harvey,  as  to  what  would  be  the 
best  thing  to  do  with  the  experimental  farms  connected  with  the  college  ? 
Ought  they  to  be  sold,  or  ought  they  to  be  conducted  differently  fi*om  what 
they  have  been  in  the  past?     And,  if  so,  how? 

A.  No  ;  I  believe  I  have  nothing  to  suggest.  I  am  not  as  alive  to  the 
interest  of  agriculture  now  as  I  have  (been).  I  know  very  well  that  we 
need  a  good  deal  of  information  in  the  way  of  experimental  farming  which 
we  have  not  got,  nor  I  don't  think  ever  will  get  from  experimental  farm 
connected  with  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  as  they  now  run  it. 

Q.  Well,  what  should  be  done  with  the  property  ?  Should  it  be  disposed 
of,  or  should  it  be  turned  in  a  different  channel  ? 

A.  I  expect  I  had  better  not  say  anything  about  that  part  of  it.  I 
owned  the  property  once,  and  it  might  be  considered  that  I  speak  from 
selfish  motives. 

Q.  I  understand  that  there  were  no  peculations  on  the  part  of  the  board 
of  trustees  in  the  management  of  the  college.  There  is  nobodj^  that 
charges  that,  that  you  know  of,  Mr.  Harvey,  is  there  ? 

A.  Well,  no  ;  I  never  heard  any  charge  of  dishonesty  on  the  part  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  and  I  don't  think  there  was  any.  I  think  the  board  of 
trustees  are  honorable  gentlemen,  but  they  do  too  much  for  the  college. 
The  laws  of  the  State  creating  the  experimental  farms — the  great  object 
for  which  the  land  grant  was  given  by  the  act  of  Congress — does  not 
warrant  it.  There  is  something  I  don't  understand  about  the  title  of  the 
farm.  As  I  understand,  the  trustees  buy  these  farms,  and  the  title  is  made 
in  such  a  way  that  it  is  part  of  the  college,  and  it  can  not  be  detached 
from  it.     That  is  something  I  don't  understand. 

Q.  How  many  acres  are  there  in  this  farm  ? 

A.  About  one  hundred. 

Q.  Can  you  tell  us  what  was  paid  for  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  can.  My  own  opinion  is  that  the  trustees  made  a  very 
poor  purchase.  They  bought  too  much  building  and  not  enough  land.  The 
farm,  when  I  owned  it,  contained  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  I  offered 
it  at  $l5l)  an  acre.  I,  however,  offered  to  sell  them  one  hundred  acres, 
without  the  building,  for  $100  an  acre,  which  would  have  taken  much  less 
money  to  have  paid  for  it,  but  it  would  have  been  the  proper  thing  to  have 
done,  in  my  opinion.  I  had  lived  there  and  had  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains 
to  have  everything  convenient  and  pleasant  about  the  buildings ;  and,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  I  would  like  to  have  held  the  buildings  and  sell  off  the 
one  hundred  acres,  and  kept  fifty  acres,  but  Judge  Watts,  who  was  one  of 
13— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


194  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

the  trustees  who  agreed  to  purchase,  he  wanted  the  buildings,  as  he  said 
there  was  no  provision  by  law  for  buildings,  and  it  was  necessary  to  have 
them  included  in  the  purchase  of  the  farm ;  so  I  said  I  would  allow  them 
to  have  one  hundred  acres,  including  the  buildings,  if  they  would  pay  me 
the  difference.  1  considered  the  whole  farm  worth,  without  the  buildings, 
$100  an  acre,  and  with  the  buildings  I  considered  the  whole  farm  worth 
5|^150  an  acre,  so  the  buildings  would  add  just  about  $50  an  acre  to  the 
value  of  the  land.  So  I  said  if  they  would  pay  me  $7,fiOO  for  the  buildings 
they  would  take  the  buildings  and  the  one  hundred  acres  of  land  imme- 
diately surrounding  them,  that  would  make  the  farm  cost  about  $177  an 
acre. 

Q.  That  included  the  buildings  as  they  are  here  to-day,  did  it  ? 
A.  Not  exactly.     This  building  in  which  we  now  are  was  built  since  by 
the  Legislature.     They  had  to  have  something  of  this  kind  for  an  office  and 
to  store  away  small  things  upstairs.     Then  they  built  a  kitchen  and  done 
some  repairing  to  the  rooms  upstairs  in  the  house. 

Q.  How  about  the  barn  ? 

A.  The  barn  is  very  much  the  same  as  it  was  when  they  purchased  it. 
There  is  no  additions  been  made  to  it.  I  believe  the  chicken-house  has 
been  built  since,  or  the  building  down  at  the  lane  has  been  built  since. 

Q.  You  gave  us  the  account  of  the  discussion  of  the  plan  by  which  this 
local  committee  was  appointed,  or,  as  I  understood  you  to  say,  there  was 
about  one  thousand  people  here  on  the  day  that  the  committee  was  ap- 
pomted. 

A.  Not  on  that  day ;  the  committee  was  appointed,  I  think,  from  repre- 
sentatives elected  by  the  county  agricultural  societies  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State  and  the  farmers'  club  there ;  they  were  more  or  less  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people — two  delegates  from  each  society. 

Q.  Well,  did  the  outside  people  take  any  part  in  the  appointing  of  this 
committee  by  instructing  their  delegates  who  they  wanted  on  that  com- 
mittee, or  did  the  two  delegates  from  each  of  the  agricultural  societies  and 
farmers'  clubs  appoint  the  committee  from  their  own  representatives  ? 

A.  1  don't  remember  about  that.  I  do  not  remember  how  the  commit- 
tees were  appointed.  There  was  a  great  many  of  these  delegates.  Nearly 
every  farmers'  club  and  agricultural  society  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State 
were  brought  together  on  this  occasion,  and,  while  the  people  themselves 
didn't  take  an  active  part  in  the  selection  of  this  committee,  they  were  very 
well  represented. 

Q.  The  delegates  appointed  the  committee  who  had  the  oversight  of  the 
farm,  or  who  looked  after  its  management,  and  so  on. 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  and  for  various  other  things  you  will  find  by  going  through 
these  reports  of  a  famous  trial  of  reapers  and  mowing  machines  which  took 
place  on  this  farm,  and  this  committee  was  enabled  to  get  up  trials  of  this 
kind,  appoint  judges,  and  so  decide  upon  the  merits  of  the  different  ma- 
chines that  entered  into  the  contest  trial. 

Q.  This  committee  consists  of  how  many  ? 

A.  Five. 

Q.  You  began  operations  here  as  superintendent  of  this  farm  in  1868, 
you  say  ? 

A.  I  think  so. 

Q.  Will  you  explain  whether  the  whole  farm  was  run  on  the  basis  of 
these  experiments,  or  was  just  certain  portions  reserved  for  experiments? 

A.  Of  course  the  whole  farm  was  not  taken  up  for  experiments.  We 
had  experimental  plots. 

Q.  About  how  many  acres  were  devoted  to  experiments  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  195 

A.  I  don't  know.  I  don't  know  if  any  of  us  here  could  answer  you  that. 
It  was  a  little  in  this  way  :  We  had  such  a  field  plowed  for  corn,  and  then 
we  took  a  number  of  different  varieties  and  experimented  with  them  and 
kept  account  of  the  results  of  each,  and  then  we  took  again  the  same  varie- 
ties and  experimented  with  them  in  different  ways  by  applying  different 
fertilizers,  and  then  keeping  account  of  the  number  of  pounds  of  corn 
raised  to  the  acre,  and  then  taking  the  same  varieties  of  corn  again,  and 
applying  lime  in  the  same  way,  kept  an  account  of  the  results.  On  one 
plot  we  would  put  one  hundred  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  on  another  fifty 
bushels,  and  kept  an  account  to  see  what  the  results  were;  whether  better 
results  would  be  produced  by  putting  only  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre,  or  by 
putting  one  hundred.  Then  the  same  varieties  were  tested  by  deep  and 
shallow  plowing,  and  then  by  sub-soiling  and  common  plowing.  The  plots 
were  generally  supposed  to  contain  about  one  eighth  of  an  acre,  and  there 
were  many  of  them,  and  between  every  plot  there  was  space  that  was  taken 
up  for  common  purposes  ;  so  it  was  almost  impossible  to  tell  how  many 
acres  were  used  in  experimental  plots. 

Q.  They  extended  over  the  whole  field,  did  they  ? 

A.  No  ;  only  part  of  it ;  and  the  main  spaces  between  the  experimental 
plots  were  taken  up  for  common  purposes. 

Q.  You  didn't  reserve  four  or  five  acres,  then,  just  for  experiments,  at 
one  particular  place  ?  ' 

A.  No  ;  no,  sir  ;  not  while  I  was  superintendent.  The  subsequent  super- 
intendent will  have  to  detail  what  they  did,  after  I  moved  away  from  the 
farm.     We  seemed  to  know  very  little  more  about  it. 

Q.  Did  you  ever  get  any  satisfaction  in  regard  to  the  change  of  pro- 
gramme after  the  three  years  were  up  ?  Why  were  the  trustees  dissatisfied 
with  this  series  of  experiments  ? 

A.  They  paid  no  attention  to  it,  and  didn't  take  the  pains  to  inquire 
whether  the  experiments  that  we  carried  on  on  this  Eastern  experimental 
farm  were  a  success  or  not ;  and  then  we  had  a  matter  of  local  pride  in  it, 
which  had  as  much  to  do  with  it  as  anything.  The  same  kind  of  farming 
that  suited  the  Central  portion  of  the  State  didn't  suit  us  here ;  and  the 
experiments  that  were  the  most  useful  to  th'em,  or  at  least  some  of  them, 
we  didn't  care  to  have  on  the  Eastern  farm,  because  they  were  of  no  use 
to  us. 

By  Mr.  M^-lin  : 

Q.  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  state  what  rotation  of  crops  was  gener- 
all}^  pursued  on  this  farm  here  while  3'ou  were  superintendent  ? 

A.  Well,  with  the  general  crops  of  corn,  wheat,  oats,  and  grass,  we  gen- 
erally plowed  down  the  grass  and  put  it  in  corn  in  the  spring  of  the  year ; 
then  in  the  following  spring  turned  over  the  corn  stalks  and  put  either  in 
Hungarian  grass — put  either  in  oats  or  Hungarian  grass — or  fallowed  it, 
and  sometimes  put  it  in  barley,  which  is  a  summer  grain.  In  the  fall  of 
the  same  year  we 'usually  turned  over  the  oats'  stubble  and  put  in  wheat, 
and  sowed  grass  on  it  for  the  purpose  of  getting  it  back  into  the  grass 
again ;  and  then  left  it  laj'  for  a  year  or  two  in  grass,  and  then  we  would 
again  put  corn  on  the  same  ground,  which  would  bring  the  same  crops  on 
the  same  ground  about  every  four  years — from  three  to  four  j-ears,  or 
every  five  years. 

Q.  You  just  put  in  one  crop  of  wheat  still,  did  you  ? 

A.  Most  generally  only  one. 

Q.  How  did  the  farming  on  this  farm  compare  as  to  the  results  of  crops 
and  the  production  of  the  farms  adjoining  it  ? 

A.  I  don't  know.     I  know  there  was  a  striking  difference  in  the  farms. 


196  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Some  of  the  farms  adjoining  it  were  pretty  good  and  some  very  poor,  hut 
I  suppose  the  farming  on  this  farm  would  compare  favorably  with  the 
farms  adjoining.  I  think  I  had  better  results  from  this  farm  because  it 
was  in  better  condition  than  farms  adjoining  it  and  then  the  farming  was 
done  in  a  better  manner. 

Q.  This  farm  was  in  a  good  condition,  then,  at  the  time  it  was  purchased  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  it  was.  I  told  you  a  little  while  ago  that  we  had  been  put 
to  a  great  deal  of  expense  and  labor  in  making  the  farm  what  it  was  at  the 
time  the  trustees  were  here  to  purchase  it,  and  that  is  the  principal  reason 
that  they  preferred  this  farm  to  others  in  the  communit3\ 

Q.  Did  you  buy  any  stable  manure  in  Philadelphia  or  surrounding  towns 
h^re  to  put  on  the  farm  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  You  just  put  on  such  manure  as  you  ordinarily  had  on  the  place, 
did  you  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Were  there  any  impediments  thrown  in  the  way  during  these  three 
years  that  you  were  superintendent  of  the  Eastern  experimental  farm  by 
the  board  of  trustees  or  college  authorities  in  the  management  of  the 
farm  ? 

A.  No;  I  don't  know  that  there  were.  I  don't  recollect  that  any  of  the 
members  of  the  board  of  trustees  were  ever  here  while  I  was  superintend- 
ent. Mr.  McAllister  was  here  once  with  some  others,  I  think,  but  in  fact 
that  was  the  only  time  I  ever  knew  of  the  trustees  of  the  college  to  come 
here,  except  the  resident  trustee,  until  a  couple  of  years  ago  when  General 
Beaver  was  here. 

Q.  That  is  your  recollection  about  it — do  you  say  that  no  member  of 
the  board  of  trustees  or  any  person  connected  with  the  college  interfered 
in  any  way  in  the  manangement  of  the  farm  during  the  three  years  that 
you  were  superintendent  of  it  ? 

A.  I  can't  recollect  it  now.  If  there  were  any  of  the  trustees  here  it 
didn't  seem  to  have  made  any  impression  on  my  mind.  We  had  a  com- 
mittee that  were  appointed  from  the  county  agricultural  society  and  farm- 
ers' clubs,  but  no  committees  from  the  college  ever  came  here  except  the 
time  they  purchased  the  farm. 

Q.  How  did  the  trustees  come  to  make  the  purchase  here  in  this  locality  ? 

A.  I  suppose  you  had  better  talk  to  Job  Jackson  on  that  subject.  He 
is  the  originator  of  the  idea.  I  heard  the  trustees  were  coming  into  our 
locality  to  look  about  the  purchase  of  a  farm,  and  I  said  to  Job  that  when 
they  came  he  should  bring  them  over  and  look  at  this  farm  before  they 
purchased  outright. 

Q.  I  don't  understand  you.  This  committee  or  local  board  of  manage- 
ment was  appointed  to  manage  the  farm  ? 

A.  1  went  over  that  in  the  beginning.  The  officers  of  the  Chester 
County  Agricultural  Society  were  a  kind  of  local  trustees  to  conduct  the 
management  of  the  farm,  and  in  order  to  adopt  a  programme  of  experi- 
ments they  extended  an  invitation  to  ail  of  the  agricultural  societies  and 
farmers'  clubs  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  They  accepted  the  invita- 
tion and  each  association  sent  two  delegates ;  these  delegates  appointed 
the  board  of  management  for  the  farm. 

Q.  Were  any  of  the  officers  of  the  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society 
members  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college  at  that  time  ? 

A.  There  was  none  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  at  that  time  except 
Mr.  George  Blight. 

Q.  Did  I  understand  you  to  say  that  the  trustees  of  the  college  left  the 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  197 

matter  of  management  of  this  farm  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Chester 
County  Agricultural  Society  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  left  it  to  the  agricultural  society  of  Chester  county,  and 
they  agreed  to  whatever  plans  were  adopted.  The  trustees  of  the  college 
threw  themselves,  as  it  were,  into  the  hands  of  the  Chester  County  Agri- 
cultural Society. 

Q.  Can  30U  give  us  any  idea  of  the  income  during  your  supervision  of 
the  farm  ? 

A.  You  will  find  that  all  in  these  reports.  I  have  given  them.  I  have 
given  an  account  of  everything  in  these  reports. 

Q.  The  income  of  the  farm  didn't  nearly  pay  all  the  expenses.  I  pre- 
sume? 

A.  You  will  find  a  financial  statement  of  the  income  of  the  farm  for 
each  year  that  I  was  superintendent  in  these  reports,  and  I  refer  j-ou  to 
them  for  your  information. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  whether  there  was  an  appropriation  from  the 
Legislature  during  these  three  years  ?     I  mean  a  special  appropriation. 

A.  Yes,  sir;  Job  Jackson  and  Henry  Darlington,  of  Bucks  county,  can 
each  explain  that.  They  know  all  about  it.  It  was  for  putting  up  these 
buildings  that  I  have  just  mentioned.  I  suppose  they  made  their  report  of 
it,  but  I  don't  think  we  have  it  here. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 
Q.  What  is  the  value  of  the  farm  to-day,  as  compared  with  its  original 
value  when  you  sold  it  ? 

A.  I  have  not  been  over  tfhe  farm  for  a  good  while,  but  I  know  it  is 
pretty'  badly  run  down.  I  don't  know  what  others  would  pay  for  it,  but  I 
know  I  would  not  give  over  $90  an  acre  for  it,  in  the  condition  it  is  now. 

Q.  Is  it  worth  as  much  to-day  as  when  the  trustees  of  the  college  bought 
it? 

A.  No;  it  won't  sell  for  near'as  much,  for  the  time  they  bought  this  farm 
land  was  very  high,  and  stock  was  high  at  the  time^  so  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  value  of  stock  to-day  and  that  the  land  has  decreased  in 
value,  it  would  not  bring  near  as  much  to-day  as  what  they  paid  for  it. 
Q.  Have  farms  not  generally  depreciated  in  value  since  then  ? 
A.  No  ;  they  went  down  a  good  bit,  but  now  land  is  going  up  again. 
There  is  a  farm  right  over  here  that  sells  for  $156  an  acre,  after  that  then 
there  was  some  farm  land  sold  for  $90,  then  for  $115,  so  it  has  varied  in 
price  very  much  since  this  farm  was  purchased  by  the  trustees  of  the 
college. 

Q.  What  condition  is  this  farm  in  now,  with  reference  to  the  buildings  ? 
A.  You  had  better  talk  with  some  one  else  on  that.  I  have  not  been 
over  the  farm  for  five  3- ears.  I  have  been  so  distressed  with  the  way  things 
have  been  going  here  that  I  have  not  been  on  the  farm  lately.  I  think 
they  have  been  taking  everything  off"  the  farm  lately,  and  not  putting  any- 
thing on  it  in  the  way  of  manure.  I  have,  upon  inquiry,  found  that  they 
have  been  selling  hay  off"  the  farm  lately  ? 

Q.  They  have  been  selling  everything  that  it  produced,  but  not  putting 
anything  on  it,  have  they  ? 

A.  That  is  about  it.     I  guess  the  farm  is  pretty  hungry  now. 

By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 
I  would  like  to  ask  Mr,  Harvey  a  few  questions,  if  it  is  in  place. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Certainly  ;  any  one  who  desires  to  ask  any  question  may  do  so.     We 
want  to  make  this  investigation  a  fair  one  to  all  parties,  and  is  it  open 
to  all. 


198  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  We  understand  that  you  were  the  original  owner  of  the  property  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  the  price  the  trustees  had  agreed  to  pay  for  it  ? 

A.  Well,  I  have  stated  that  already.  I  agreed  to  take  $100  an  acre 
for  one  hundred  acres,  and  the  difference  between  the  price  $1.50  an  acre 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  and  the  price  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  at  $100.  1  considered  the  value  of  the  buildings  on  the  farm  worth 
$7,500,  so  the  value  of  the  land  without  the  buildings  was  $10,000. 

Q.  Well,  the  title  was  not  in  good  condition  at  the  time  they  bought  it. 
Did  they  not  have  to  spend  some  money  to  perfect  the  title  ? 

A.  I  believe  so  ;  $17,500  was  the  money  that  was  paid  to  me  for  the  farm. 

Q.  Seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  was  the  money  that  was 
asked  to  be  paid  to  you  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  had  been  living  here  on  the  farm  for  several  years  preceding 
the  sale  of  it  to  the  trustees  of  the  college  had  you  not  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  any  reason  to  believe  that  the  board  of  trustees  or  any 
officer  of  the  college  was  prejudiced  in  any  way  either  in  favor  or  against 
the  purchase  of  this  farm  ? 

A.  Oh,  no  ;  not  at  all. 

Q.  But  that  they  purchased  this  farm  because  they  thought  it  best 
adapted  for  the  purposes  of  experimental  farming  ? 

A.  I  think  so  ;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Were  you  afterwards  superintendent  of  this  farm — its  first  superin- 
tendent? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  have  a  contract  with  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college  as 
to  what  compensation  you  should  receive  ? 

A.  No  ;  they  didn't  hire  me,  if  I  remember  rightly. 

Q.  Who  did  hire  yon  ? 

A.  D.  Lacy  Darlington,  George  Blight,  and  Thomas  J.  Edge.  I  had  a 
written  contract  with  them. 

Q.  What  were  the  terms  of  that  agreement  ? 

A.  That  we  were  to  manage  and  superintend  the  farm  to  the  best  of  our 
ability,  for  which  we  were  to  have  $l,UOO  a  year.  There  was  a  private  part 
connected  with  it,  that  we  were  not  to  work  any  ourself,  that  all  we  were 
to  do  was  to  be  dressed  up  and  wear  gloves,  and  be  merely  general  overseer. 
We  wore  not  to  do  a  stroke  of  work. 

Q.  Was  there  or  was  there  not  any  perquisites  beside  the  $1,000  ? 

A.  Nothing  more  than  the  maintaining  a  family.  We  lived  in  the  house, 
and  all  our  household  goods  were  to  be  furnished,  and  the  men  who  worked 
on  the  farm  were  to  be  provided  for.  We  were  not  to  board  any  of  them, 
but,  instead  of  that,  we  used  all  our  own  household  goods,  and  all  the  time 
we  boarded  the  hands  that  worked  on  the  farm.  The  men  that  were  em- 
plo3'ed  in  putting  up  the  buildings  we  boarded,  and  we  had  our  hands  very 
full,  and,  I  tell  you,  we  didn't  have  very  much  idle  time,  as  was  guaranteed 
we  should  have  when  I  took  the  farm. 

Q.  Did  that  contract  include,  as  compensation,  your  living  expenses,  such 
as  wheat  f'>r  flour,  butter,  meat,  &c.,  &c.  ? 

A.  They  were  all  used  there  as  they  came  off  the  farm. 

Q.  Did  it  include  all  store  bills,  such  as  sugar,  coflTee,  tea,  and  all  pro- 
visions out  of  the  store  that  were  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  your 
family  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  199 

A.  The  table  was  kept  up  out  of  the  farm's  expenses,  but  our  own  private 
family  expenses  were  paid  out  of  my  own  pocket. 

Q.  Well,  were  not  your  groceries  purchased  with  the  produce  of  the 
farm  ;  from  the  sale  of  the  butter  and  eggs  and  such  things — was  not  some 
of  that  income  used  for  the  purpose  of  buying  dry  goods  for  your  family  ? 

A.  As  a  matter  of  course,  I  considered  that  some  of  the  resources  of 
the  farm ;  and  that  I  was  entitled  to  in  my  contract,  but  I  was  to  have 
those  things  in  connection  with  the  compensation  I  was  to  receive. 

Q.  At  what  did  j'ou  estimate  those  perquisites? 

A.  I  don't  know  what  they  would  amount  to. 

Q.  How  many  was  your  family  lim'ted  to  as  to  board  ? 

A.  There  was  no  limit  of  the  contract  as  to  that  at  all. 

Q.  Can  you  furnish  us  a  copj"^  of  that  contract  ? 

A.  I  think  I  have  it  at  home. 

Q.  Did  you  understand,  Mr.  Harvey,  that  these  gentlemen,  with  whom 
you  made  this  contract,  were  authorized  by  the  college  to  contract  with 
you,  or  did  you  contract  with  them  as  private  individuals,  or,  in  other 
words,  did  you  consider  yourself  employed  b}'  the  college  or  by  these  gen- 
tlemen with  whom  you  made  the  contract  ? 

A.  I  was  employed  by  D.  f^acy  Darlington  and  Thomas  J.  Edge. 

[Written  contract  produced.] 

Q.  Will  you  please  read  the  contract,  since  you  have  it  here  ? 

A.  Office  of  Chester  County  Agricultural  Societ}^,  West  Chester,  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1868.  To  Thomas  M.  Harvey:  In  pursuance  of  authoritv  vested 
in  us  by  the  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society  and  trustees  of  the  Agri- 
cultural College  of  Pennsylvania,  we  do  hereby-  appoint  you  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  model  and  experimental  farm  in  the  eastern  district  of  Penn- 
sylvania, for  the  current  j'ear  commencing  March  16,  1868,  at  a  salary  of 
$1,000  per  annum,  and  the  privilege  of  residing  in  the  mansion-house,  and 
to  provide  the  ordinary  maintenance  of  your  family  from  the  products  of 
the  farm,  free  of  rent  or  charge.  Signed  by  D.  Lacy  Darlington,  George 
Blight,  Thomas  J.  Edge.     Accepted,  Thomas  M.  Harvey. 

Q.  Xow,  I  would  like  to  repeat  the  question  I  asked  you  a  little  while 
ago,  as  to  whether  you  considered  yourself  employed  by  these  gentlemen 
who  signed  that  contract,  or  employed  by  the  Agricultural  College  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  it  was  then  called  ? 

A.  I  don't  think  I  ever  thought  anything  about  it.  ' 

Q.  What  do  you  think  about  it  now,  as  you  look  back  to  that  time  ? 

A.  Why,  as  I  understood  it,  I  should  say  this  committee  emplojed  me 
by  authorit}'  of  the  trustees. 

Q.  Did  you  accept  the  condition  of  that  contract  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  it  is  so  stated  there  on  the  contract. 

Q.  With  regard  to  the  matter  of  the  experiments  upon  the  Eastern  ex- 
perimental farm,  you  have  stated,  I  believe,  that  the  programme  of  experi- 
ments for  the  first  year  was  made  out  by  the  local  committee  here  on  the 
farm,  which  was  appointed  by  delegates  from  this  locality  ? 

A.  It  was  not  a  very  local  committee.  That  committee  was  appointed 
by  delegates  from  several  counties  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State. 

Q.  Were  you  ever  furnished  with  the  programme  of  experiments  to  be 
used  on  this  farm  which  were  adopted  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Ag- 
ricultural College  of  Pennsylvania  ? 

A.  I  can't  answer  you  that.  There  was  a  programme  adopted  by  Mr. 
Mc  lllister  and  a  few  others  connected  with  the  Agricultural  College,  at 
the  meeting  at  Harrisburg  that  I  have  referred  to,  but  that  came  into  op- 
eration the  next  year.     It  was  not  during  the  time  I  was  superintendent 


200  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

of  the  farm.  I  received  it  the  last  year,  but  it  didn't  go  into  operation 
until  the  next  year,  and  then  there  was  another  superintendent.  We  never 
got  started  under  the  new  programme. 

Q.  You  left  that  farm  at  that  time  ? 

A.  In  1870. 

Q.  You  are  not  certain  whether  you  ever  received  any  instructions  as 
to  carrying  out  the  programme  of  experiments  prescribed  by  this  com- 
mittee which  3-ou  have  mentioned,  that  Mr.  McAllister  and  Mr.  Burrows, 
and  others,  were  members  of? 

A.  If  I  ever  got  any  copy  I  don't  recollect  it.  I  don't  think  I  did,  but 
I  remember  of  hearing  it  spoken  of.  But  I  know  that  this  programme 
was  made,  and  I  know  it  was  not  the  first  year  I  was  here,  nor  the  second, 
but  it  was  in  the  third  year  sometime  that  I  was  here  that  the}"^  got  up  this 
programme  that  you  refer  to. 

Q.  Do  you  know  that  in  1869  the  Central  experimental  farm  carried  out 
this  programme  of  experiment  that  was  prescribed  by  the  committee  that 
met  at  Harrisburg,  and  that  the  eastern  and  western  farms  were  both  fur- 
nished witli  a  copy  and  urged  to  adopt  this  programme  so  as  to  have  uni- 
formity in  the  experiments  on  the  three  farms  ? 

A.  I  have  no  way  of  remembering  that  now,  but  I  know  that  when  I 
was  instructed  to  carry  out  that  new  programme  of  experiments,  we  had 
started  on  the  programme  of  experiments  prescribed  by  the  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  delegates  which  I  have  named.  That  committee  consisted 
of  Mark  J.  Cox,  Joseph  Philips,  and  myself. 

Q.  As  I  understand  you,  you  were  appointed  in  February  1868,  and 
took  charge  of  the  management  of  the  farm  for  that  year  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  you  adopted  this  programme  that  was  prescribed  by  this  com- 
mittee of  which  vou  were  a  member,  with  Mark  J.  Cox  and  Joseph 
Philips? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  In  the  winter  of  1868  and  '69  were  you  not  appointed  upon  a  com- 
mittee to  take  into  consideration  the  programme  of  experiments  to  be 
adopted  by  the  three  experimental  farms,  and  did  you  not  meet  at  Harris- 
burg, and  was  there  not  there  a  programme  of  experiments  presented  for 
consideration,  and  was  not  a  resolution  passed  adopting  it  against  your 
prejudices? 

A.  I  don't  think  I  said  anything  about  the  programme  that  was  adopted 
at  that  time.  Nobody  had  a  chance  to  be  heard  on  it  at  all.  Mr.  McAl- 
lister came  there  and  had  it  already  drawn  up  in  writing,  and  he  just  stood 
and  worked  down  all  the  talking  himself  until  he  had  that  programme 
adopted  without  any  discussion  whatever.  I  didn't  even  utter  a  word 
against  it  in  the  discussion  of  it. 

Q.  V/ell,  were  you  not  superintendent  of  the  Eastern  experimental  farm 
at  time  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  was. 

Q.  Did  you  not  know  that  the'  programme  of  experiments  went  into 
operation  on  the  Western  and  Central  farms,  and  the  report  shows  that  it 
was  conducted  on  these  farms  in  1869,  and  the  same  report  shows  that  you 
were  furnished  with  a  copy  of  it  and  you  refused  to  adopt  that  programme 
for  the  Eastern  farm  ?  Now,  do  you  still  insist,  Mr.  Harvey,  that  you 
didn't  act  as  superintendent  of  the  Eastern  experimental  farm  for  one  year 
after  this  programme  of  experiments  was  adopted  by  this  committee  at 
Harrisburg  in  the  winter  of  1869  ? 

A.  Chalkley  Harvey  would  know  something  about  that,  I  suppose. 


Leg.  Doc.  )  Pennsylvania  State  College.  201 

Committee  adjourned  for  dinner.     Took  dinner  at  the  Eastern  experi- 
mental farm-house,  at  West  Grove,  Chester  county,  Pa. 


Committee  met  within  three  quarters  of  an  hour  after  adjournment. 

Thomas  M.  Harvey's  examination  continued : 
By  Mr.  Hamilton : 

Q.  I  believe  the  last  question  I  asked  you  was  whether  you  had  not  re- 
ceived instructions  in  1869  from  the  board  of  trustees,  or  its  officers,  in  re- 
gard to  the  series  of  experiments  that  were  to  be  conducted  by  the  different 
experimental  farms  Y 

A.  I  am  unable  to  answer  you  as  to  that ;  I  can't  tell.  About  as  to  the 
first  year,  I  am  satisfied  I  didn't  have.  I  am  satisfied  as  to  the  beginning 
of  the  second  year.  I  had  no  instructions,  and  when  they  did  come  we 
had  already  begun  operations  under  the  programme  of  experiments  that  had 
been  adopted  for  the  year  previous  under  the  original  contract.  I  alwa3's 
carried  out  the  instructions  that  were  given  me  ver^-  particularly,  and  I 
think  my  neighbor  farmers  will  bear  me  out  on  that ;  and  I  think  the  local 
committee  were  always  satisfied  with  m^^  work  that  I  done  while  I  was  su- 
perintendent of  the  farm.  They  are  here,  some  of  them,  and  you  can  ask 
them  about  it  yourself. 

Q.  What  was  the  first  year  you  were  here,  Mr.  Harvey  ? 

A.  ISe**,  1  think. 

Q.  Here  is  the  report  of  the  professor  of  agriculture,  that  was  made  out 
for  1869,  in  which  he  offers  this  statement,  on  pages  5  and  6  :  "In  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  month  of  December,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  month  of 
January,  he  received  from  Thomas  M.  Harvey,  superintendent  of  the  East- 
em  farm,  in  detached  installments,  his  report.  He  is  constrained,  however, 
to  state  that  Mr.  Harvey's  report  does  not  correspond  with  the  programme 
prescribed  by  the  board,  nor  with  the  instructions  given  from  time  to  time, 
as  above  stated.  This  is  the  more  deeply  to  be  regretted  as  the  experi- 
ments have  evidenth'  been  conducted  with  great  care,  are  exceedingly  in- 
teresting, and,  independent  of  this  disregard  of  instructions,  are  reported 
in  a  manner  highly  creditable  to  the  industry  and  ability  of  the  superin- 
tendent, whose  conduct  finds  palliation^  if  not  excuse,  in  the  fact  that  the 
committee  of  the  several  agricultural  clubs  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State, 
to  whom  an  advisory  oversight  of  the  farm  had  been  committed,  and  who 
met  from  time  to  time  thereat,  requested  him  to  disregard  the  programme 
and  instructions,  and  to  pursue  the  same  course  of  experiments  adopted  on 
the  Eastern  farm  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  and,  therefore,  prior  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Central  and  Western  farms."  Does  that  agree  with 
your  recollection  of  the  facts  ? 

A.  I  wish  to  say  with  regard  to  the  fact,  when  we  got  any  instructions 
from  the  board  of  trustees  for  1869,  the  first  year  that  we  was  running  this 
farm,  1  was  employed  b}'  the  committee  of  Chester  County  Agricultural 
Society'  to  run  this  farm,  and  they  gave  me  instructions  how  to  run  this 
farm,  and  I  run  it  according  to  their  orders.  They  told  me  what  to  do, 
and  what  not  to  do,  and  I  did  as  they  directed  me.  I  was  not  employed 
by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  agricultural  college,  and  considered  I  had 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  Never  in  a  single  instance  was  any  of  my  work 
found  fault  with  by  the  committee  who  employed  me,  and  aS  long  as  I  sat- 
isfied them  with  my  work  I  was  satisfied,  and  I  ask  these  gentlemen,  now, 
are  j'ou  going  to  allow  me  to  be  abused  here  because  I  carried  out  the  in- 


202  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

structiona  you  gave  me  ?  I  was  employed  by  you  to  conduct  the  farm,  and 
did  conduct  it  as  you  instructed  me,  and  I  think  you  should  not  leave  me 
now. 

By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  propose  to  submit  to  this  committee  evidence  to  show 
that  two  years  before  Mr.  Harvey  had  left  this  farm  he  received  instruc- 
tions from  the  board  of  trustees,  or  the  professor  of  agriculture  of  the 
agricultural  college,  a  copy  of  the  programme  of  experiments  which  he 
was  requested  to  carry  out,  and  I  will  show  it  from  the  official  report  of 
the  professor  of  agriculture  of  the  agricultural  college,  and  from  which 
you  can  see  that  he  disregarded  the  instructions  given  him  by  the  board  of 
trustees,  but  he  carried  out  the  programme  of  experiments  that  had  been 
adopted  by  the' local  board  instead. 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  you  were  here  during  1868  and  1869  and  part  of  18T0,  as 
I  understand  you  ? 

A.  [  was  here  three  j^ears.  I  can't  state  exactly  the  years,  but  I  think 
it  was  1868,  1869,  and  1870. 

Q.  Now,  I  wish,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  submit  the  report  of  the  professor  of 
agriculture  for  the  next  year — for  the  year  1870 — on  page  216  :  "  In  this 
connection  it  is  proper  to  say  that  while  the  superintendents  of  the  Western 
and  Central  farms  have  made  their  reports  and  tables  mainly  in  the  form 
prescribed,  that  of  the  Eastern  still  not  only  adds  a  great  deal  of  matter 
not  embraced  in  the  programme  enjoined  upon  all,  but  departs  from  the 
instructions  as  to  the  manner  of  reporting.  This  imposes  very  consider- 
able additional  labor  in  the  general  tabularizing  and  contrasting  of  the  re- 
sults, and  unnecessarily  increases  the  number  of  pages  to  be  printed.  Last 
year,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Eastern  farm  had  been  put  into  operation 
one  year  before  the  others,  and  under  supervision  and  control  of  several 
societies  and  clubs  in  that  part  of  the  State,  it  was  found  that  the  form  and 
manner  of  proceeding  and  reporting  must  be  in  several  respects  ditt'erent 
from  those  enjoined  by  the  Central  authority.  This  reason  for  the  depar- 
ture, then  assigned,  was,  for  that  occasion,  admitted  as  sufficient,  but  the 
expectation  was  expressed  that  thereafter  strict  compliance  with  instruc- 
tions would  take  place.  This  expectation  has  not  been  realized."  It  would 
seem,  Mr.  Chairman,  from  this  that  for  the  last  two  years  that  Mr.  Harvey 
was  superintendent  of  this  Eastern  experimental  farm  he  did  not  carry  out 
the  instructions  given  him  by  the  board  of  trustees.  Now,  I  would  inquire 
why  he  did  not  carry  out  those  instructions  ? 

A.  I  carried  out  what  I  was  employed  to  do ;  what  I  was  told  to  do  by 
the  committee  who  employed  me.  The  board  of  trustees'  programme  of  ex- 
periments came  too  late  for  me  to  carry  them  out  the  last  year  that  I  was 
there,  and  the  report  here  states  so. 

Q.  I  have  read  from  the  official  report  of  the  professor  of  agriculture 
for  those  two  years,  and  from  that  it  is  very  evident  that  he  did  receive 
the  programme  of  experiments  to  be  adopted  and  carried  out  by  the  three 
farms,  as  early  as  1869. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

Mr.  Chairman,  1  would  ask  who  was  the  professor  of  agriculture  at  that 
time  ? 

By  Mr.  Hamilton : 

Thomas  H.  Burrows,  who  was  at  the  same  time  president  of  the  college. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  did  you  consider  you  had  the  right  to  disregard  those 
instructions  coming  from  the  board  of  trustees,  knowing  that  you  were 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  203 

employed  by  them,  and  notwithstanding  that,  to  go  on  and  disregard  the 
instructions  given  you  by  the  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  professor  of  agriculture;  I  in  no  way 
was  employed  by  him,  nor  was  I  employed  by  the  board  of  trustees. 

Q.  Do  you  think  it  would  be  proper  for  a  man  to  superintend  any  of 
these  experimental  farms  and  disregard  the  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  I  think  it  would  be  when  he  asked  me  to  do  things  in  which  there  is 
no  sense  in  doing.  If  he  asked  me  to  do  something  in  which  I  think  there 
can  be  no  benefit  to  anybody,  I  would  disregard  his  instructions  and  do  as 
I  thought  proper. 

Q.  Was  not  the  board  of  trustees  the  proper  authority  to  receive  in- 
structions from  as  to  how  this  experimental  farm  should  be  conducted  ? 

A.  They  never  carre  near  to  say  what  I  should  do. 

Q.  1  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  explanatory  remarks  on  page  215 
of  the  report  of  18*72. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

That  was  after  Mr.  Harvey  had  left  the  farm,  and  it  would  not  be  proper 
evidence  at  this  time. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

It  is  appended  to  his  report.     The  point  I  wish  to  make  is  that  Mr. 
Harvey  was  here  two  years  after  he  had  received  this  programme  of  ex- 
periments adopted  by  the  board  of  trustees. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

It  is  in  the  report  of  1872,  and  I«don't  think  it  would  be  proper  to  iur 
troduce  it  here  now. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton : 

Well,  if  you  think  it  is  not  proper,  I  will  omit  it  for  the  present. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Q.  With  regard  to  the  stocking  of  the  farm.  You  stated  that  the  col- 
lege had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  that  after  the  trustees  had  selected  the 
location  of  the  farm,  that  you  were  dependent  upon  the  citizens  of  Chester 
county  for  the  stocking  of  it,  and  that  they  appropriated  about  five  thou- 
sand dollars'  worth  of  farm  implements  and  other  equipments  for  the  farm  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  we  people  of  Chester  county  did  a  great  deal  toward 
equipping  this  farm,  and  we  were  very  much  hampered  in  making  our  ex- 
periments, because  we  didn't  have  the  proper  implements  to  work  with. 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  was  not  the  college  very  poor  at  the  time  this  farm  was 
purchased,  and  was  there  any  money  that  could  have  been  taken  for  that 
purpose,  and  was  it  not  part  of  the  contract  that  if  the  farm  was  located 
here  that  the  citizens  of  Chester  county  would  contribute  enough  to  stock 
the  farm  ? 

A.  I  know  nothing  about  the  original  contract,  personally,  at  all. 

Q.  But  if  this  is  so,  would  it  be  a  sufficient  explanation  why  the  college 
did  not  contribute  any  stock  for  this  farm  at  the  beginning  of  its  existence  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  is  the  fact  or  not. 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  did  the  college  authorities  ever  interfere  with  the  man- 
agement of  this  farm,  outside  of  the  programme  of  experiments  that  the 
committee  at  Harrisburg  prescribed  ? 

A.-  Well,  they  never  interfered  at  all.  I  hardly  knew  that  the  college 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  farm  while  I  was  superintendent  of  it.  We 
were  obliged  to  do  entirely  for  ourselves  what  we  supposed  we  could  get 
done  at  the  college. 

Q.  Do  you  saj^  jou  have  no  reflections  to  make  upon  the  college  authori- 
ties for  having  interfered  with  the  management  of  the  farm  while  you  were 
superintendent  of  it  ? 


204  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  No,  sir ;  not  at  all. 

Q.  You  stated,  Mr.  Harve}*,  in  your  testimony,  that  Judge  Watts  had 
loaned  or  sent  you  money  in  1868  or  1869,  while  you  were  superintendent 
of  the  farm  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  he  sent  me  a  check  for  five  hundred  dollars. 

Q.  And  you  stated  that  it  was  never  paid  back  to  him  ? 

A.  I  heard  some  one  state,  some  time  back,  that  Judge  Watts  had  never 
got  his  money. 

Q.  But  did  you  not  testify  positively,  that  the  money  was  not  yet  paid, 
in  your  examination-in-chief;  but  now  you  say  that  you  heard  some  one 
say  that  Judge  Watts  had  not  got  his  money  yet ;  do  you  say  now  that 
that  money  has  never  been  paid  back  to  Judge  Watts  ? 

A.     I  can  give  you  only  what  I  heard.     I  don't  know  personally  whether 
it  has  been  paid  back  or  not. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Well,  for  the  benefit  of  the  committee,  I  will  state  that  Judge  Watts  has 
been  paid  back  that  money,  and  that  Mr.  Harvey  is  entirely  mistaken  in 
his  statement  when  he  says  that  it  has  not  been  paid. 

Job  H.  Jackson,  affirmed  and  examined : 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  go  on  with  your  statements  in  regard 
to  some  of  these  matters  which  have  been  referred  to  by  Mr.  Harvey  in 
his  statement  in  your  hearing  ?  There  is  one  thing  that  we  would  like  to 
know,  Mr.  Jackson,  and  that  is  about  the  amount  of  money  that  was  ap- 
propriated for  this  institution  here,  and  whether  the  institution  received  it 
or  not  ? 

A.  My  recollection  of  what  has  taken  place  on  this  farm  is  about  what 
Mr.  Harvey  has  stated  here.  In  reference  to  the  amount  of  money  ap- 
propriated for  these  buildings  and  certain  other  appropriations,  was  $5,000, 
but  that  was  not  obtained  until  it  was  very  evident  that  we  stood  very 
much  in  need  of  that.  The  committee  appointed  to  get  that  appropria- 
tion was  Henry  Darlington  and  myself,  and  I  don't  recollect  who  the  other 
was.  I  know  I  gave  attention  to  the  matter  of  having  these  improve- 
ments made.  They  were  carried  through  and  a  report  made  of  it  to  the 
Legislature.  All  that  I  can  say  is  that  the  money  was  obtained  fiom  the 
Legislature,  and  the  improvements  made,  and  the  whole  thing  wound  up 
and  nobody  found  any  fault  with  it  at  the  time,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of 
any  complaints  since.  There  was  at  one  time  a  great  deal  of  interest  taken 
by  the  agriculturists,  and  it  was  not  confined  to  this  immediate  locality, 
but  it  seemed  to  be  more  general  throughout  the  State.  At  that  time  we 
looked  forward  to  a  new  era  for  agriculture,  but  we  were  doomed  to  dis- 
appointment. All  throughout  the  country  a  great  generosity  was  shown, 
as  has  already  been  testified  to  by  Mr.  Harve}',  in  donations  to  the  Eastern 
experimental  farm,  but  we  didn't  get  the  assistance  from  the  college  that 
was  faithfully  promised  by  the  trustees.  It  has  already  been  stated  that 
the  college  at  that  time  was  under  heavy  difficulties,  and,  I  suppose,  were 
in  need  of  assistance  themselves  and  were  not  able  to  do,  perhaps,  what 
otherwise  they  would  have  been  called  to  have  done. 

The  act  of  the  State  Legislature  in  appropriating  this  fund  to  the  college 
contemplated  their  contributing  a  certain  portion  of  it  to  the  experimental 
farms  is  very  plain  by  the  terms  of  it.  By  the  terms  of  it  they  were  bound 
to  do  certain  things.  It  has  limitations,  I  find,  and  they  were  not  entitled 
to  any  of  it  unless  they  would  establish,  maintain,  and  conduct  three  ex- 
perimental farms.     The  term,  experimental  farm,  I  know,  is  a  kind  of  in- 


Leg.  Doo.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  205 

definite  thing,  and  men  may  differ  very  much  as  to  what  would  be  a  proper 
thing  to  do  in  order  to  carry  out  that  application,  j-et  it  is  very  evident 
from  the  debates  that  occurred  in  the  passage  of  this  act  that  the  exper- 
imental farms  or  experimental  stations  were  the  paramount  things  contem- 
plated by  the  use  of  this  public  fund.  Now,  it  seemed  to  me,  the  trouble 
we  are  in  is,  in  departing  from  the  ideas  that  were  contemplated  by  the 
agriculturists  that  first  instituted  the  Farmers'  High  School.  It  seems  to  me 
that  perhaps  a  portion  of  the  agricultural  men  that  were  in  the  board  of 
trustees,  from  time  to  time,  over-estimated  the  value  of  the  classical  educa- 
tion and  overlooked  the  more  important  subjects  common  with  the  educa- 
tion of  the  farmer,  and  didn't  even  calculate  the  general  idea  contemplated 
by  the  act  of  Congress  and  the  men  who  first  started  the  Farmers'  High 
School ;  and  when  thej'  started  to  carry  out  the  course  they  are  now  trying 
to  pursue  there  they  didn't  calculate  the  cost.  Be  sure,  that  might  be  all 
very  well  to  have  an  extended  course  for  those  who  desire  to  go  there  for 
their  education  if  they  had  sufficient  funds  to  back  it  up,  but  it  would  re- 
quire a  far  larger  amount  of  money  than  is  now  being  appropriated  for  that 
purpose,  and  the  results  of  it  all  is  that  no  good  is  accomplished  in  any- 
thing, and  the  outla^^  of  money  is  entirely  too  great  for  the  number  of  stu- 
dents that  graduate  at  the  college.  I  think  that  out  of  the  eighteen  students 
that  graduated  at  tbe  college,  I  think  that  was  the  number,  if  my  memory 
serves  me  right,  that  General  Beaver  said  graduated  there,  but  it  seems  to 
me  he  said  five  of  them  were  practical  agriculturists,  while  the  others  had 
either  graduated  in  the  classical  or  scientific  course,  which  had  very  little 
to  do  with  the  science  of  agriculture.  If  the  institution  was  more  extended, 
and  had,  besides  the  income  of  this  public  land  fund,  a  liberal  endowment, 
it  might  go  on  and  give  this  higher  course  of  education,  but  with  all  that  I 
don't  think  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State  would  be  advanced  as 
much  by  even  such  a  course  as  was  contemplated  by  the  originators  of  the 
Farmers'  High  School.  The  institution  is  entirely  too  poor  to  carrj-  out  the 
course  of  education  the}'  have  laid  down  in  their  catalogue.  Students  who 
come  there  for  a  classical  course  get  a  very  inefficient  one,  because  they 
have  not  the  means  to  give  them  such  an  education  as  they  could  receive 
at  other  colleges  in  the  State,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  do  not  go  to  the 
State  College  for  such  an  education.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  scien- 
tific and  other  courses,  and  more  than  that,  there  is  no  such  an  institution 
needed  in  the  State  at  the  present  time,  for  we  have  already  institutions  of 
that  kind  that  are  able  to  educate  any  number  of  students  in  the  classics 
and  sciences  and  literature  of  the  day.  All  this  might  be  much  preferred 
in  the  agricultural  college,  but  when  it  has  departed  from  the  general  idea 
of  the  founders  of  the  institution,  and  was  not  contemplated  by  the  act  of 
Legislature  appropriating  the  public  funds,  which  should  never  have  been 
attempted,  and  in  that  I  think  the  board  of  trustees  have  failed  in  their 
duty  in  permitting  or  adopting  a  course  that  is  now  being  endeavored  to 
be  carried  out  by  the  officers  of  the  State  College.  If  the  board  of  trustees 
had  first  established  and  conducted  that  which  the  act  contemplated,  and 
then  have  had  the  amount  of  resources  to  have  added  to  it,  they  would 
have  been  more  justifiable  in  adopting  the  course  they  have  pursued,  but 
upon  examination  you  will  find  the  State  College  is  very  deficient  in  the 
very  things  it  was  calculated  to  accomplish.  Its  own  mechanical  depart- 
ment is  carried  on  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  of  no  value  to  the  student 
going  there.  Another  department  should  be  attached  to  the  agricultural, 
which  is  very  important,  but  I  have  never  seen  it  mentioned,  not  even  as  a 
text-book  used  in  the  agricultural  course.  I  have  reference  to  the  veter- 
inary department,  the  studies  of  the  diseases  of  cattle,  and  a  proper  treat- 


206  Report  of  the  Committee.  •      fNo.  18, 

ment  of  them  is  rery  useful  to  all  farmers,  and  that  is  a  branch  I  do  not  think 
they  have  ever  pretended  to  teach  at  the  State  College,  which  is  claimed 
to  be  a  school  for  the  education  of  farmers  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

There  should  be  a  separate  professorship  for  that  department,  and  there 
should  be  a  separate  professor  in  the  department  of  mechanics  ;  but  instead 
of  creating  a  professorship,  such  as  would  be  of  great  use  to  the  farmers 
of  Pennsylvania,  the  board  of  trustees  have  expended  the  income  of  the 
public  fund  to  the  classical  and  literary  departments,  and  have  diverted  the 
use  of  the  money  from  the  objects  for  which  it  was  originally  intended. 
If  you  desire  my  views  more  at  length  on  this  subject,  I  have  here  the  copy 
of  an  article  in  the  shape  of  a  communication,  written  by  myself  to  the 
West  Chester  Local  News^  written  under  date  of  November  15,  1880,  en- 
titled "  Is  there  need  of  any  special  agricultural  schools  ?"  [The  commu- 
nication has  been  appended  to  the  testimony  of  J.  H.  Jackson. J  This  arti- 
cle embodies  the  outlines  of  the  bill  which  I  would  respectfully  refer  you 
to,  and  is  known  as  House  of  Representatives,  No.  ,^54,  introduced  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  Dr.  K.  Stubbs,  at  the  session  1881,  file  1607, 
and  entitled  the  "  Further  supplement  to  accept  the  public  land  from  the 
United  States  to  the  several  States  for  the  endowment  of  agricultural  col- 
leges," passed  the  Ist  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1863.  And  I  desire  to  submit, 
for  the  consideration  of  this  committee,  my  views  as  taken  in  this  paper. 
[Witness  produces  a  paper,  the  heading  of  which  is :  "  To  the  Legislative 
Committee  to  Investigate  the  Affairs  of  the  State  College."  This  paper  is 
also  appended  to  the  testimony  of  J.  H.  Jackson.] 

Q.  Were  j'ou  ever  a  trustee  of  the  college,  Mr.  Jackson  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  You  have  visited  the  school  occasionally  in  Centre  county,  I  presume  ? 

A.  Twice,  I  believe,  only. 

Q.  When  was  that  ? 

A.  Once  when  Thomas  H.  Burrows  was  there  ;  that  was  the  second  time 
I  visited  it,  and  when  Professor  Allen,  now  of  Girard  College,  was  there 
was  the  first  time  I  visited  it.  The  second  time  I  visited  it  was  several 
years  after. 

Q.  How  long  ago  was  that — do  you  know  what  years  that  was  ? 

A.  Well,  it  is  as  much  as  eight  or  ten  years  since  I  was  there  the  last 
time.     I  think  the  first  time  I  was  there  was  a  couple  of  years  before  that. 

Q.  You  made  a  thorough  examination  at  that  time,  did  you,  of  all  the 
facililies  of  the  college  and  its  surroundings  ? 

A.  Not  very  thorough  at  all.  I  only  arrived  there  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  afternoon,  and  left  in  time  for  the  next  morning  train.  Both  times  I 
didn't  look  through  the  college  as  an  educational  institution  to  a  verj^  large 
extent.  I  was  in  the  preparatory  department,  and  looked  through  the 
building  and  over  the  farms. 

Q.  What  was  your  opinion  of  the  value  of  the  farm  when  it  was  bought  ? 
Was  it  a  fair  price  paid  for  it,  or  was  it  too  high  or  too  low,  or  what  have 
you  to  say  about  the  market  value  of  the  farm  when  it  was  purchased  by 
the  trustees  of  the  college  ? 

A.  Well,  the  farm  was  in  a  very  good  condition  then,  and  I  think  the 
property  was  bought  at  a  very  fair  price.  As  a  matter  of  course,  it  is 
natural  for  all  of  us  to  ask  as  high  a  price  for  our  properties  as  we  can  get 
for  them,  but  I  think  the  farm  was  bought  at  a  very  full  and  good  price  ;  at 
the  same  time  I  can't  say  that  I  think  the  price  was  too  high  as  compared 
with  the  price  of  other  things,  taking  into  consideration  the  fluctuations  of 
prices  since  then. 

Q.  How  about  the  value  of  the  property  now  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  _      20T 

A.  Taking  into  consideration  the  market  value  of  the  currency  as  com- 
pared with  it  then,  my  judgment  would  be  that  the  value  of  the  property 
is  not  very  much  changed.  There  has  been  a  very  considerable  amount  of 
fertilizer  applied  to  the  ground  that  would  evidently  have  a  great  deal  of 
value,  and  some  improvements  made  in  the  way  of  buildings.  Taking 
everything  into  consideration,  I  don't  think  the  value  of  the  property  has 
changed  much,  while  the  currency  has  depreciated.  The  improvements 
made  on  the  farm  will  make  up  the  deficiency  between  the  two,  leaving  the 
present  market  value  of  the  curreiicy  out  of  the  considertion  entirely. 
By  Mr.  Sharpless : 

Q.  Mr.  Jackson,  was  it  not  specified  in  the  act  granting  the  fund  for  the 
purchase  of  these  farms  that  it  was  to  be  not  only  an  experimental  farm, 
but  also  a  model  farm  ? 

[Witness  looks  for  the  acts,  and  says  it  is  not  so  stated  in  the  act  of  1 867.] 

Article  published  in  the  West  (Jhester  Local  News,  of  West  Chester, 
Pennsylvania,  in  No.  301,  Vol.  VIII,  under  date  of  November  16,  1880, 
communicated  by  Job  H.  Jackson,  which  is  hereby  appended  to  his  testi- 
mony given  before  the  ''  State  College  investigating  committee,"  at  West 
Grove,  as  representing  some  of  his  views  on  the  matter  before  the  commit- 
tee entitled  '•  Is  there  need  of  any  special  agricultural  school  ?" 

Mr.  Editor  :  Highly  appreciating  the  importance  of  general  education, 
Pennsylvania,  alter  years  spent  in  its  accomplishment,  has  built  up  a  pretty 
liberal  system  of  public  schools,  and  has  provided  for  or  established  ten  or 
more  normal  schools  for  the  liberal  education  of  teachers ;  thus  practically 
recognizing  the  value  of  well  qualified  instructors  in  all  grades  of  schools. 

In  addition  to  the  public  system  extending  all  over  the  State,  there  ex- 
ists numerous  private  schools  doing  good  service ;  also  various  colleges 
with  extended  lists  of  professors,  teachers,  and  appliances,  being,  in  many 
instances,  liberally  prepared  to  undertake  whatever  educational  services 
may  be  sought  of  them.  Amongst  these  are  man}-  of  deserved  reputation 
and  well-earned  patronage,  some  possessing  liberal  endowment  funds. 

Already  there  would  seem  to  exist  ample  provision  in  this  higher  class 
of  institutions  to  educate  about  all  the  pupils  that  are  prepared  and  desire 
a  collegiate  course,  and  since  many  of  them  are  not  provided  with  pupils, 
is  it  not  safe  to  conclude  they  would  agree  to  furnish  such  characters  of 
instruction  as  demanded  to  prepare  pupils  specially  for  such  calling  as  they 
make  choice  of  for  a  life  pursuit  ? 

Our  object  is  briefly  to  bring  into  view  the  educational  provisions  already 
supported  that  have  been  established  to  suppW  the  wants  of  the  people  and 
that  are  likely  to  be  maintained.  Then,  in  view  of  the  various  provisions 
which  society  has  already  assumed  to  support,  it  may  properly  be  ques- 
tioned whether  it  is  expedient  or  necessary  that  we  shall  now  further  pledge 
the  State  to  uphold  a  special  educational  institution,  ostensibly  devoted  to 
the  interests  of  agriculture. 

Before  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania  decide  in  a  way  to  increase  the 
complications  and  add  to  the  loss  thus  far  consequent  upon  an  ill-starred 
attempt  to  set  up  the  agricultural  college,  (amidst  a  total  lack  of  needful 
capital,  as  was  the  situation  then,)  is  the  proper  time  to  consider  well  the 
whole  subject. 

It  may  be  well  to  inquire  whether  there  is  really  so  much  within  range 
of  the  so-called  "  natural  sciences  "  special  to  agriculture  and  awaiting  to 
be  taught  in  the  school-room  in  its  application  to  this  pursuit,  that  it  is 
needful  a  distinct  institution  or  class  of  schools  shall  be  kept  up.  In 
weighing  this  matter  we  should  duly  recognize  the  various  grades  of  schools 


208  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

now  supported,  which  have  sprung  up  to  supply  the  needs  of  society,  and 
that  are  not  likely  to  be  abandoned. 

In  all  of  these  of  good  standing  in  this  enlightened  and  practical  age, 
the  various  branches  of  physical  science  will,  of  course,  be  generally  taught 
as  students  progress. 

Amidst  such  opportunities  near  at  hand,  a  very  small  percentage  of  the 
farmer  bo\^s  of  the  State  are  likely  to  spare  the  time  or  decide  upon  a  col- 
lege course  of  study,  even  should  the  State  foot  the  tuition  bill. 

Nothing  better  adapted  to  meet  ihe  wants  of  the  farming  class,  or  stu- 
dents scattered  in  homes  throughout  the  State,  would  now  seem  to  be 
needed  than  that  the  same  principles  in  their  special  application  to  the 
pursuit  of  agriculture  shall  be  so  taught  through  the  schools  we  already 
have  as  to  meet  the  wants  of  pupils  wishing  to  become  tillers  of  the  soil. 

Taking  all  classes  of  our  population,  the  chief  dependence  is  upon  the 
various  schools  we  have  referred  to  as  having  been  built  up  to  meet  the 
essential  educational  wants  of  the  people. 

Society  has  committed  themselves  to  their  maintenance,  and  hundreds 
of  farmer  boys  will  remain  solely  dependent  upon  the  educational  oppor- 
tunities there  furnished,  to  one  ever  likely  to  be  met  with  in  existing  State 
colleges,  or  any  modification  of  it. 

In  this  practical  age,  the  principles  and  truths  of  the  natural  sciences  are 
increasingly  demanded  as  an  essential  portion  of  instruction  in  all  respect- 
able educational  institutions.  This  feature  is  gaining  attention  through 
most  of  our  schools,  being  equally  important  in  those  of  primary  grade, 
where  the  larger  portion  of  our  population  must  continue  to  look  for  in- 
struction to  prepare  them  for  life  pursuits. 

We  believe  the  greatest  benefit  will  accrue  from  a  common  effort  to 
render  so  practical  the  schools  we  have,  which  communities  are  bound  to 
support,  as  to  make  them  serve,  to  the  greatest  extent  practicable,  the 
special  scientific  needs  of  agriculture,  as  well  as  those  of  the  various  pur- 
suits of  the  millions  almost  solely  dependent  on  them  for  all  of  educational 
outfit  within  their  reach. 

But,  while  not  neglecting  to  carry  out  that  idea  as  the  broader  basis  of 
benefits  to  the  multitude,  there  is  a  further  duty  to  be  met  by  the  citizens 
of  the  State  at  an  early  day. 

The  situation  is,  that,  owing  to  the  attempt  by  its  worthy  friends  to  do 
something  for  the  improvements  of  agriculture  by  startmg  the  Farmers' 
High  School,  and  since  by  the  generous  grant  by  act  of  Congress,  made 
on  condition,  requiring  one  or  more  colleges  so  organized  as  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  said  act,  the  duty  is  imposed  to  make  the  best  possible 
application  of  this  public  fund,  with  other  means  connected. 

And,  in  view  of  the.  history  of  the  embarrassed  condition  and  scanty 
patronage  of  this  State  inititution  during  the  whole  period  it  has  been 
kept  going,  it  certainly  behooves  the  taxpayers  of  the  State,  or  their 
representatives  in  the  approaching  Legislature,  to  thoroughly  consider  this 
subject,  and  mature  such  plan  of  action  for  the  future  as  will  afford  a  more 
adequate  return  for  the  public  money  consumed  by  the  college. 

The  embarrassing  incidents  of  this  institution  thus  far  have  been  such, 
we  think,  now  call  for  a  careful  weighing  of  the  whole  subject,  at  least  be- 
fore a  decision  is  allowed  to  be  reached,  (however  strongly  urged  in  behalf 
of  local  interest  or  the  friends  of  so  thriftless  an  institution,)  which,  in 
eflFect,  may  render  the  treasury  of  the  Commonwealth  responsible  in  future 
for  the  pecuniary  support  of  a  thriftless  institution,  and  for  maintaining 
professorships,  on  a  par  with  popular,  well-endowed  colleges,  independent, 
as  in  the  past,  of  the  number  and  want  of  the  pupils. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  209 

We  may  as  well  now  overlook  mistakes  made  in  the  founding  and  early 
organization  of  this  school  so  wasteful,  under  the  ambitious  pretensions  of 
a  college,  an  institution  but  few  farmer  bo3'S  can  either  spare  time  or 
means  to  pass  through,  and  still  fewer  come  out  tillers  of  the  soil  after 
such  protracted  study.  Starting  early,  with  professors  and  teachers  to 
pay  disproportionate  with  the  needs  and  numbers  of  pupils  in  attendance, 
it  surely  would  have  been  unprecedented  had  not  it  proved  a  financial 
failure. 

And  in  deciding  upon  what  is  best  in  time  to  come,  it  is  well  to  refer  to 
its  history,  and  consider  the  increased  ditKculty  in  reviving  in  an  unpopu- 
lar institution  and  regain  public  confidence  and  patronage.  But,  com- 
menced as  it  was,  the  ''Farmers'  High  School,"  by  self-sacrificing  efforts  of 
many  worthy  citizens,  it  is  pleasant  to  find  cause  in  mistakes  made  in  the 
past  to  abandon  the  institution  to  which  their  judgment  gave  shape.  Yet 
the  works  of  the  most  worthy  must  stand  or  fall  by  the  test  of  utility,  as 
may  chance  to  be  shown  in  subsequent  experience. 

The  counsel  of  to-day,  aided  by  the  workings  and  plans  successfully 
pursued  in  other  States  engaged  in  carrying  forward  the  like  enterprise, 
may  be  found  to  commend  a  change  in  this  State.  This  may  chance  to 
involve  letting  go  the  idea  of  maintaining  the  present  State  College,  or, 
possibly,  any  special  agricultural  school  as  such,  and  will,  we  presume, 
lead  to  some  re-appropriation  of  the  income  arising  from  the  land  grant 
fund.  Can  there  not,  as  the  proper  outset,  be  found  one  or  two  popular 
and  well-endowed  colleges  amongst  the  number  in  the  State,  which,  like 
Rutgers'  Scientific  School,  in  New  Jersey,  would  willingly  accept  the  fund 
on  condition  to  carry  out  the  stipulations  of  the  act  of  Congress  donating 
the  land  scrip ;  and  also  apply  some  portion  (say  one  half)  to  the  support 
of  efficient  agricultural  stations  or  model  farms?  Thus  could  the  spread 
of  whatever  science  has  yet  in  store  in  and  of  agriculture  be  practically 
promoted  by  tests  and  experiments  at  such  stations  open  to  the  observa- 
tion of  all  interested  or  engaged  in  farming  more  effectually  than  by  theo- 
retical instruction,  addressed  to  the  few  farmer  boys  ever  likely  to  attend 
the  present  college,  or  any  modification  thereof. 

We  offer  the  foregoing  thoughts  to  go  for  what  they  may  be  deemed 
worth,  following  the  more  full  presentations  of  the  history  and  workings 
of  this  perplexing  institution,  embraced  in  the  lengthy  and  very  interest- 
ing letters  of  John  Plowshare,  published  in  the  West  Chester  Local  News, 
commencing  9th  month,  20th,  and  extending  to  No.  9,  about  the  2uth  of 
10th  month. 

The  readers  of  these  nine  letters  may  be  led  to  see  there  is  strong 
grounds  for  complaint  against  the  general  management  in  the  past ;  3'et 
the  service  now  most  in  deman:!  is  to  bring  forward  definitely  something 
better  to  take  its  place. 

Witnessing  the  better  success  of  plans  adopted  in  some  other  States, 
may  we  not  trust  that  our  citizens  will  not  continue  simply  complainers, 
but  will,  at  the  approaching  session,  demand  a  change  of  legislation  in  re- 
lation thereto. 

November  12,  1880.  J.  H.  J. 

Paper  marked  J.  H.  J.,  No.  S. 

To  the  Legislative  Committee  to  investigate  the  Affairs  of  the  State  College : 
Being  summoned  before  the  committee  appointed  to  make  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  State  College,  and  asked  by  the  sub-committee  to  bring  state- 
ments and  papers  relating  thereto,  I  respectfully  offer  the  following.     I 
14— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18 


210  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

hope  it  ma}^  prove  worthy  of  a  committee  holding  the  highly  responsible 
and  important  position  of  ascertaining  the  true  interest  of  the  citizens  of 
all  sections  of  the  State  as  to  the  benefits  realized  from  this  embarrassed  in- 
stitution, and  the  proper  application  of  a  public  fund  intended  for  the  ben- 
efits of  all  sections  of  the  Commonwealth  without,  as  we  apprehend,  any 
anticipation  of  aid  from  the  National  government : 

The  Farmers'  High  School  was  incorporated  in  18.54.  Tt  is  shown  the 
declared  object  of  the  worthy  men  who  headed  the  movement  was  "An  in- 
stitution for  the  education  of  youth  in  the  various  branches  of  science, 
learning,  and  practical  agriculture,  as  they  are  connected  with  each  other." 
And  among  the  rules  early  adopted,  the  sixth  reads :  "  The  board,  as  exi- 
gencies may  require,  §hall,  in  addition  to  the  principal,  employ  other 
teachers  or  tutors  qualified  to  impart  a  knowledge  of  the  English  language, 
grammar,  geography,  history,  mathematics,  chemistry,  and  such  other 
branches  of  the  natural  and  exact  sciences  as  will  conduce  to  the  proper 
education  of  a  farmer,"  &c. 

The  design  of  these  practical  men  appears  to  have  been  to  establish,  not  a 
four  jears' course  of  abstract  study  to  qualify  the  thousands  of  young  men 
destined  to  live  by  farming,  but  an  institution  in  which  all  desirous  to  enter 
might  be  so  educated  as  to  fit  them,  not  to  go  off  into  professional  colleges, 
but  to  become  the  actual,  practical  farmers  of  the  State.  Well  qualified 
by  such  improvements  as  science  has  in  store,  to  set  a  thrifty  example 
whereA'er  they  went,  to  the  general  advancement  of  the  agriculture  of  the 
State.  We  apprehend  the  practical  men  who  promoted  the  start  of  the 
"Farmers'  High  School  "  little  thought  that  the  humble  school  they  con- 
templated as  the  one  suited  to  the  time,  the  means,  and  the  practical  needs 
of  the  large  class  from  which  our  actual  farmers  come,  would  in  a  short 
time,  and  lacking  means,  attempt  the  folly  of  opening  the  ambitious  name  of 
college,  with  its  attendant  expensive  organization  of  professorships,  that 
have  graduated,  perhaps  have  exceeded  that  portion  in  all  the  past.  As  men 
of  observation,  the  founders  of  the  Farmers'  High  School  doubtless  were 
awa''e,  as  all  of  us  may  notice,  that  of  those  who  devote  three  or  four 
years  of  the  forming  period  of  life  to  pass  through  a  collegiate  course  of 
studies,  very  few,  indeed,  make  farming  their  life  pursuit. 

AVhether  such  is  facts  attested  by  the  students  of  the  State  College  in 
the  past.  General  Beaver  is,  perhaps,  qualified  to  answer.  It  seems  to  us 
that  in  the  board  of  trustees  in  the  past  have  been  a  few  talking  literary 
men,  who  have  had  "college  on  the  brain,"  being  themselves  graduates  of 
such  institutions,  but  who  have  failed  to  comprehend  what  kind  of  educa- 
tional institution  the  farming  and  industrial  classes  believe  they  need  and 
will  support.  Owing  to  such  influences,  the  modest  "  Farmers'  High 
School  "  has  suffered  the  folly  of  being  drifted  into  such  an  institution  as 
the  class  for  whose  benefit  it  was  originally  intended  are  not  disposed  to 
patronize. 

Are  there  not  abundant  facts  and  evidence  at  command  to  convince  an  un- 
biased committee  that  it  is  not  an  educational  institution  calling  for  stu- 
dents to  pursue  a  course  of  studies  consuming  three  or  four  years,  that  the 
farmers,  mechanics,  and  industrial  portion  of  our  population  will  patronize  ? 
Besides,  it  is  not  an  unwavering  certainty  that  the  educational  institution 
named  college,  contemplated  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  1862,  (donating 
public  lands,  which  makes  this  provision  in  terms,  "  While  not  excluding 
other  scientific  or  classical  studies,")  should  farmers  and  mechanical  classes 
wish  to  pursue  such,  to  teach  such  brandies  of  learning  as  arc  related  to 
agricultural  and  the  mechanical  arts,  &c.,  demands  that  our  State  shall 
burden  its  citizens  to  maintain  the  costly  show  of  an  educational  institu- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  211 

tion  not  desired  or  patronized  by  tlie  class  of  people  intended  to  be  bene- 
fited by  the  use  of  the  public  fund  thus  squandered. 

"  The  agricultural,  mechanical,  and  industrial  classes  "  of  Pennsylvania, 
have  in  the  past  years  given  positive  evidence  of  their  disinclination  to 
patronize  the  existing  instiuUtion,  and,  therefore,  we  are  led  to  think  that 
to  attempt  to  continue  and  maintain  at  great  outlay  this  thriftless  State 
College,  is  to  consent  to  squander  a  public  fund  to  gratif}'^  a  merel}'  local 
interest,  and  implies  a  further  drain  upon  the  State  Treasury  for  its  con- 
tinuance. Is  the  institution  needed  as  a  competition  of  the  various  colleges 
already  established  in  our  State,  some  of  which  are  well  endow-ed  and.  pat- 
ronized- ? 

We  believe  it  is  not,  and  that  in  its  location,  and  encumbered  by  lack  of 
popular  success  in  the  past,  it  will  not  prove  satisfactory  to  longer  expenet 
the  people's  treasure  to  continue  it.  If  such  be  your  judgment,  then  comes, 
up  the  quer}',  What  next  ?  And  upon  this  question  there  will  be  met  with 
diversity  of  views.  I  think  vay  duty  consists  in  respectfully  referring; 
your  committee  to  bill  No.  5fi4,  offered  at  last  session  in  the  House  of  Rep"- 
resentatives,  b}'  Theodore  K.  Stubbs,  Esquire,  still  thinking  this  bilL^  or 
some  modification  of  it,  could  apply  the  Congressional  fund  so  as  to  Head 
to  far  greater  and  more  justly  distributed  benefit  to  the  State  than  the 
present  educational  institution  can  be  made  to  supply.  This  bill  was 
prompted  by  the  aim  to  bring- the  benefits  of  this  public  fund  acceptable  to 
the  "  agricultural,  mechanical,  and  industrial  classes  "  in  the  various  sec- 
tions of  the  State.  It  is  from  the  families  of  these  we  must  chiefly  look 
for  a  succession  to  fill  these  essential  pursuits.  Our  desire  is  to  bring  the 
practical  application  of  this  public  fund  to  elevate  existing  educational 
institutions  within  their  reach,  and  likewise  to  render  the  special  instruc- 
tion called  for  by  this  class,  also  reach  out  and  profit  students  aiming  at 
other  life  pursuits. 

Talk,  as  literary  or  professional  men  are  mostly  prone  to  do,  of  the  im- 
portance and  great  value  of  college  education,  the  sober  fact  is,  That  upon 
the  practical  character  of  education,  the  improvements  wrought  out  and 
introduced  through  the  humbler  grade  of  schools,  wiU  the  material  and 
moral  thrift  of  the  community  mainly  depend  for  advancement.  The 
normal  schools  hold  the  position  of  great  centers  of  influence  in  this  State. 
And  they,  with  the  primary  and  graded  schools  supplied  with  teachers 
from  them,  have  claims  to  be  aided  and  fostered  as  '^'  The  people's  col- 
leges." In  the  State  there  are  eleven  normal  schools,  but  by  the  proj^osed 
biU  all  of  them  are  not  made  direct  recipient  of  the  fund,  which  is  insuffi- 
cient for  so  numerous  a  division.  The  tendency  of  this  division  would  be 
to  influence  beneficially  the  character  of  instruction  in  all  normals,-  as  they 
all  may  pass  their  students  to  the  two  "  technical  normals."  Such  of 
them  as  may  be  qualified  and  wish  to  profit  by  the  special  instruction  sup- 
plied through  the  two  with  such  experimental  lands  as  may  be  attached. 
And  apportioning  at  the  outset  a  stated  portion  of  this  public  fund  to  each 
recipient  for  performing  special  services  named  in  our  bill,  and  required 
by  the  law  of  Congress,  may  better  assure  the  carrjdng  out  of  these  ob- 
jects. Perhaps  it  would  in  the  future  obviate  the  prevalent  complamt 
against  the  State  College.  In  its  needy  condition  for  funds  to  keep  up  the 
educational  institution  it  fails  to  maintain  the  three  experimental  farms 
sufficiently,  as  stipulated  by  the  act  of  1867,  granting  the  trustees  the  in- 
come arising  from  the  fund  on  that  express  condition.  That  there  is  cause 
for  this  continuous  complaint,  urged  perhaps  more  especially  in  behalf  of 
the  eastern  farm,  your  present  interview  with  farmers  who  have  taken  an 
interest  in  its  doings  and  management  may  convince  you,  while  few  will 


212  Report  of  the  Committee.  [rso.  18, 

claim  that  the  one  near  the  college  has  been  efficiently  handled,  or  that 
anything  of  importance  has  been  carried  out  on  the  western  farm.  The 
consumption  of  the  people's  fund  to  keep  up  the  Centre  county  school, 
nominally  the  State  College,  so  long  as  that  is  persisted  in  forbids  any 
well-based  expectation  that  anything  of  extended  and  practical  benefit  to 
the  whole  State  can  be  accomplished. 

And  to  continue  the  college  means  to  consent  to  throw  open  further  the 
treasui'y  of  the  State,  to  piece  out  its  support.  Formerly  we  had  hopes 
that  a  school  started  for  so  worthy  an  object  would  soon  be  rendered  a 
success  by  the  aid  of  the  land  grant  fund.  But  we  have  been  reluctantly 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that,  drifted  where  the  State  College  now  stands 
in  public  estimation,  it  has  become  hopeless  to  longer  persist  in  the  wasteful 
efforts  to  make  an  institution  so  unpropitiously  adapted  and  located  serve 
the  purposes  in  demand,  and  carry  out  the  objects  of  the  act  of  Congress 
and  conform  to  the  enactment  of  the  Legislature  granting  the  State  Col- 
lege the  income  of  said  funds.     All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

J.H.J. 

6  mo.  12th,  1882. 

Copy  of  Agreement  between  W.  R.  Hhelmire  and  John  Hamilton. 

This  agreement  made  and  concluded  this.lst  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1880, 
by  and  between  Warren  R,  Shelmire,  of  London  Grove  township,  Chester 
county,  Pennsylvania,  of  the  first  part,  and  John  Hamilton,  business  man- 
ager of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  Centre  county,  Pennsylvania,  of 
the  second  part. 

Witnesseth:  That  the  said  Warren  R.  Shelmire  has  agreed,  and  doth 
hereby  agree,  for  the  consideration  hereinafter  mentioned,  to  take  charge  of 
and  superintend  and  conduct,  for  the  period  of  one  .year,  from  April  1 ,  A. 
D.  1880,  in  a  faithful,  economical,  and  efficient  manner,  and  subject  to  such 
restrictions  as  the  board  of  trustees  or  the  professor  of  agriculture  of  the 
Pennsylvania  State  College  may,  from  time  to  time,  issue,  the  farm  known 
as  the  Eastern  experimental  farm,  situate  in  the  said  township  of  London 
Grove,  Chester  count}- .  He  also  agrees  to  render  just  and  true  accounts  of 
the  condition  of  the  farm  and  its  financial  status  at  such  times  as  the  board 
of  trustees  or  the  professor  of  agriculture  may  direct ;  and  on  the  1st  day 
of  January,  A.  D.  1881.  to  make  out  a  detailed  statement  of  the  working 
of  the  farm,  and  a  list  and  full  account  of  all  the  experiments  that  may 
have  been  carried  on  upon  the  farm  during  the  3' ear  just  closed.  He  also 
agrees  to  pay  out  no  mone}^  without  requiring  in  each  and  every  case  a  re- 
ceipt in  full  for  the  amount  so  expended.  He  also  agrees  to  open  no  ac- 
count, run  the  farm  in  debt,  but  is  to  confine  all  the  expenses  within  the 
income,  and  to  pay  all  labor  and  other  debts  incurred  in  the  current  run- 
ning expenses  of  the  farm  at  the  end  of  every  month,  and  to  make  no  sales 
of  stock  or  implements  from  the  farm  without  permission  first  obtained 
from  the  board  of  trustees  or  the  professor  of  agriculture  of  the  State  Col- 
lege. He  also  agrees  to  permit  the  said  board  of  trustees,  or  the  professor 
of  agriculture  of  the  State  College,  to  have  possession  of  one  half  of  the 
mansion  house  as  early  as  the  Ist  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1881,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  occupying  by  such  person  or  persons  as  the  said  board  of  trustees 
or  the  said  professors  of  agriculture  may  select ;  and  at  the  expiration  of 
the  agreement,  namely  :  on  the  Ist  day  of  April,  A.  D.  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eighty-one,  (1881,)  to  turn  over  to  the  said  college,  or  to  such 
persons  as  the  trustees  may  designate,  all  the  property  and  premises  en- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  213 

truisted  to  him  by  the  said  college  in  good  order,  reasonable  wear  and  tear 
excepted. 

For  and  in  consideration  of  the  above  services  well  and  truly  performed 
the  said  party  of  the  second  part  for  and  in  behalf  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College,  agrees  to  pay  to  the  party  of  the  first  part  the  sum  of  eight 
hundred  dollars  ($800)  per  year  salary,  beginning  on  the  1st  day  of  April, 
A.  D.  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty,  (1880  ;)  the  said  party  of  the 
second  part  also  agrees  to  give  to  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  the  use  of 
the  mansion  house,  situate  on  the  said  farm,  free  of  rent  for  the  year  afore- 
said ;  also  one  fourth  of  all  the  milk,  in  consideration  of  said  party  of  the 
first  part,  milking  all  the  cows,  making  the  butter,  and  feeding  the  calves. 
Said  party  of  the  first  part  is  to  receive,  in  addition  to  the  above,  the  use 
of  one  fourth  acre  of  ground  for  garden  for  vegetables,  and  of  one  half  acre 
of  land  for  a  potato  patch,  and  he  is  to  have  the  use  of  the  farm  team  for 
the  purpose  of  working  the  ground  for  the  potatoes. 

Ho  is  also  to  have  one  half  of  the  increase  of  the  chickens,  and  one  third 
of  the  increase  of  the  eggs.  He  is  also  to  have,  in  addition,  fruit  for  ordi- 
nary use  in  his  own  immediate  family  ;  the  keep  of  one  horse,  provided  the 
horse  works  when  needed  upon  the  farm.  He  is  also  to  have  such  old  worn- 
out  and  worthless  refuse  material  as  is  left  after  repairing  the  fences,  and 
also  the  corn-col^s  of  the  corn  shelled  upon  the  farm. 

He  is  also  to  have  the  privilege  of  keeping  boarders  from  a  distance  pro- 
vided that  the  property  of  the  college  is  not  thereby  injured  or  defaced,  or 
the  fruit  or  crops  in  any  way  molested  or  disturbed. 

The  said  party  of  the  first  part  is  to  board  such  laborers  as  may  be  needed 
upon  the  farm,  and  as  are  employed  by  the  farm  at  a  sum  not  exceeding 
twelve  cents  per  meal. 

In  testimony  whereof,  witness  our  hands  and  seals  the  day  and  year  first 
above  written. 

W.  R.  SHELMIRE,  [seal.] 
Witness  to  signature  of  W.  R.  Shelmire : 
A.  R.  Yansant. 

JOHN  HAMILTON,  [seal.] 
Witness  to  signature  of  John  Hamilton  : 
A.  R.  Vansant. 

The  word  "  regularly,"  four  line  from  top  of  page,  stricken  out,  and  the 
words  "  inserted  before  signing." 

State  College,  Centre  County,  Pa.,  June  30,  1880. 
Dear  Sir  :  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  College,  held  this  day,  the  following  action  was  taken  : 

"  For  the  purpose  of  furthering  the  best  interests  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College  and  securing  harmony  in  its  administration, 
'  Be  it  resolved  by  the  board  of  trustees,  That  all  the  members  of  the  fac- 
ulty, the  business  manager  of  said  cohege,  the  superintendents  of  the  ex- 
perimental and  college  farms,  and  all  employes  of  the  aforesaid,  shall  be 
subject  to  the  orders  of  the  president  of  the  college." 
Yours  truly, 

JAMES  CALDER, 

Secretary. 
W.  R.  Shelmire, 

Avondale,  Pennsylvania. 
John  I.  Carter,  affirmed  and  examined: 

By  the  chairman  : 
Q.  Will  you  please  go  on  and  give  us  the  history  of  your  experience  as 


214  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

superintendent  of  this  farm  in  as  short  a  manner  as  you  can  ?     When  did 
you  become  superintendent  of  it  ? 

A.  1  came  here,  I  thinlc,  in  1871,  and  was  here  eight  years.  I  was  em- 
ployed on  the  same  terms  as  Mr.  Harvey  was,  on  the  same  conditions,  by 
the  board  of  local  n  anagers.  D.  Lacy  Darlington  and  Joseph  Turner  were 
members  of  it.  I  was  employed  under  the  written  terms  similar  to  the  one 
of  Thomas  M.  Harvey.  The  conditions  were  about  the  same.  Then  I 
worked  under  a  kind  of  dual  head.  Purt  of  our  operations  were  under  the 
instructions  of  the  professor  of  agriculture  of  the  college,  and  part  under 
the  local  committee ;  but  we  were  instructed  to  lay  out  certain  plots  or 
programme  plots,  and  a  large  part  of  our  operations  were  in  laying  them 
out  to  carry  out  the  experiments  in  connection  with  those  we  had  already. 
These  were  to  be  conducted  under  the  direction  of  the  professor  of  agri- 
culture of  the  agricultural  college,  and  the  balance  of  the  farm  was  run 
under  the  direction  of  this  local  committee  of  managers.  One  of  this  board 
of  local  managers  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college. 
Joseph  Turner  was  the  member,  but  I  don't  think  D.  Lac}'  Darlington  was. 

Q.  Mr.  Turner  succeeded  him  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  think  so.  Part  of  the  time  Mr.  Roberts  was  a  member  of 
the  local  board  of  managers,  and  he  was  also  trustee  of  the  college,  and 
part  of  the  time  Henry  C.  Dolens  during  my  stay  here  as  superintendent 
of  the  farm.  But  the  management  of  the  farm  was  taken  oiit  of  the  hands 
of  the  local  board  of  managers  and  placed  into  the  hands  of  the  professor 
of  agriculture  of  the  college,  and  from  that  time  on  we  may  note  a  de- 
generacy of  the  farm,  and  the  interest  taken  in  it  by  the  citizens  of  this 
section  began  to  diminish.  The  professor  of  agriculture,  we  never  con- 
sidered, was  the  proper  person  to  give  instructions  to  run  the  experimental 
farms.  The  experiments  he  would  ask  us  to  try  and  work  with  were  very 
often  totally  impracticable,  and  if  successful  would  be  of  no  use  whatever 
to  the  farmers  anywhere. 

Q.  Who  was  professor  of  agriculture  at  that  time  ? 

A.  Mr.  Hamilton.  I  think  that  was  the  great  cause  why  this  farm  lost 
its  interest  in  this  community,  and  its  value  as  a  teacher  of  practical  agri- 
culture. We  endeavored,  to  the  best  of  our  ability,  to  carry  out  the  ex- 
periments as  long  as  1  remained  here,  but  we  failed  in  making  them  of  any 
value  for  several  reasons:  First,  because  we  did  not  have  the  means;  sec- 
ondly, the  programme  of  experiments  were  not  interesting  or  of  no  practi- 
cal value.  I  mean  now  the  programme  of  experiments  that  came  from  the 
college.  We  always  had  difficulty  in  getting  our  money.  The  college 
authorities  were  alwavs  behind  with  their  payments,  and  we  never  could 
get  our  money  when  promised. 

Q.  Was  this  plan  of  experiments  changed  during  the  eight  years  j^ou 
were  here  ? 

A.  It  was  the  same  plan  adopted  at  Harrisburg — the  same  of  which  Mr. 
Harvey  spoke  in  his  testimony. 

Q.  Will  you  explain  how  you  carried  out  these  experiments — I  want  to 
know  whether  the  whole  farm  was  taken  up  in  carrying  out  these  experi- 
ments, or  only  half  or  one  third  of  it,  or  over  what  portion  of  the  farm  did 
your  operations  extend  in  carrying  out  these  experiments — were  they  car- 
ried on  at  one  place,  or  were  they  conducted  as  Mr.  Harvey  stated  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  we  carried  them  on  at  one  place,  on  the  northern  part  of 
th*i  farm.  We  had  three  different  fields  that  were  laid  out  in  plots,  and 
upon  them  we  carried  on  the  programme  of  experiments,  and  the  balance 
of  the  farm  was  run  as  a  common  farm. 

Q.  Run,  I  suppose,  as  farms  adjoining  it  were  run  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  215 

A.  Yes,  sir;  except  the  experiments,  as  j^ou  see  in  the  reports.  There 
were  conducted  some  experiments  under  the  direction  of  the  local  board  of 
managers.  At  one  time  I  planted  one  hundred  and  filty  varieties  of  pota- 
toes, and  a  good  many  varieties  of  wheat  and  oats,  and  many  means  ol 
culture  to  which  they  might  be  subjected. 

Q.  Was  that  part  of  the  experiments,  outside  of  the  plan  sent  you  from 
the  college  ? 

A.  Exactly  ;  the  details  of  which  you  will  find  in  the  reports  for  the 
years  I  was  here. 

Q.  All  this  was  done  by  the  direction  of  the  local  board  of  managers  ; 
that  is,  the  idea  of  experiments  arose  with  them  ? 

A.  Sometimes  they  were  ideas  presented  by  them,  and  sometimes  they 
were  our  own. 

Q.  Well,  they  were  not  given  under  the  direction  of  the  professor  of 
agriculture  of  the  college. 

A.  No,  sir  ;  they  were  not. 

Q.  Were  these  original  experiments  also  reported  in  the  reports  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  did  you  manage  about  the  stock  ? 

A.  How  do  you  mean,  sir  ? 

Q.  Did  3'ou  raise  any  stock  to  sell  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes ;  some,  but  we  did  not  make  it  a  specialty. 

Q.  Did  you  consume  all  the  hay  raised  on  the  farm  ? 

A.  We  did  as  a  general  thing. 

Q.  Did  you  sell  any  of  it  at  any  time  ? 

A.  We  did  sell  a  little,  but  as  a  general  thing  we  did  not.  We  sold 
about  as  farmers  generally  do.  If  they  have  a  little  more  hay  than  they 
need  they  sell  it,  and  that  is  about  what  we  did. 

Q.  Was  there  much  of  that  done  here  on  the  farm  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  we  never  made  it  a  rule  to  sell  hay.  It  is  more  the  excep- 
tion than  the  rule.  It  only  occurred  when  we  happened  to  have  a  surplus 
of  hay,  and  then  we  always  thought  it  better  to  sell  it  and  buy  other  kinds 
of  fertilizers. 

Q.  How  much  stock  did  you  have  on  the  farm  daring  the  winters  you 
were  here  ? 

A.  I  never  had  more  stock  than  our  ordinary'  farm  stock.  We  might 
have  two  or  three  steers  to  fatten  and  to  sell,  but  we  never  made  it  an 
object  to  have  a  lot  of  stock  on  the  farm  for  wintering  purposes. 

Q.  Then  you  did  not  make  it  much  of  an  object  to  make  much  manure 
on  the  place  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes ;  we  tried  to  accumulate  all  the  manure  that  we  possibly 
could.     Sometimes  we  had  a  large  flock  of  sheep  of  five  hundred  wethers. 

Q.  Well,  the  other  part  of  the  farm  while  you  were  here — I  mean  the 
part  not  taken  up  in  experiments — was  done  about  as  the  farming  generally 
was  done  throughout  your  neighborhood  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  about  the  same. 

Q.  Was  the  farming  all  done  under  the  directions  of  the  professor  of 
agriculture  of  the  State  College  and  by  the  local  board  of  managers,  or 
was  it  left  to  your  own  discretionary  powers  as  to  how  to  conduct  the 
farm  that  was  not  included  under  the  experimental  programme  ? 

A.  When  we  first  commenced  here  it  was  done  under  advisement,  but 
toward  the  latter  part  of  m3'^  superintendency  it  was  left  almost  entirely 
to  myself,  that  is,  the  farming  outside  of  the  plan  of  experiments  sent  from 
the  college. 

Q.  Do  3'ou  know  whether  the  trustees  or  any  of  the  authorities  of  the 


216  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

college  ever  threw  any  obstacles  in  your  way  to  prevent  you  from  carry- 
ing out  the  programme  of  experiments,  as  far  as  the  ordinary  farming  was 
concerned?  I  mean  under  the  programme  of  experiments  directed  by  the 
local  board  of  managers. 

A.  No,  sir;  they  never  did. 

Q.  How  often  did  the  board  of  trustees  come  down  here  to  visit  you 
during  the  eight  years  you  were  here  ? 

A.  They  never  were  here  once  as  a  board.  Mr.  Roberts,  of  Bucks 
coiinty,  one  of  your  committee  here,  was  a  trustee  part  of  the  time.  He 
was  here  occasionally,  and  a  Mr.  Holstein,  one  of  the  trustees,  was  also 
here  while  I  was  superintendent.     I  believe  he  was  of  Montgomery  county. 

Q.  Did  any  of  the  board  of  trustees  from  the  western,  or  central,  or 
north-west  part  of  the  State  ever  visit  you  ? 

A.  Not  that  I  remember  of.  Judge  Orvis  was  here  once, but  I  don't  re- 
member whether  he  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  at  that  time  or 
not. 

Q.  Well,  you  say  they  never  visited  you  as  a  board  of  trustees  or  as  a 
committee  appointed  hj  the  board  of  trustees  to  pay  you  a  visit  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  What  suggestions  have  you  to  make  with  regard  to  the  disposition 
of  this  farm  ? 

A.  I  think  it  had  better  be  sold.  I  think  the  College  farm,  the  Western 
farm,  and  the  whole  thing  is  a  regular  Jumbo,  and  we  have  never  yet 
found  a  Barnum  for  it.  Mr.  Beaver  has  a  Jumbo  on  his  hands,  and  he  is 
not  enough  of  a  Barnum  to  manage  it. 

Q.  Outside  of  the  experimental  plots,  do  3'ou  consider  it  remunerative  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  raise  good  crops  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  :  we  raise  good  crops. 

Q.  Do  you  sell  a  good  deal  of  what  3'ou  raise  every  year  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  consider  that  your  system  of  farming,  outside  of  the  experi- 
mental plots,  a  benefit  to  the  general  community  ? 

A.  Well,  I  do  not  kuow  that  I  can  answer  that  question.  I  think,  pro- 
bably, we  have  done  a  good  deal  in  calling  the  attention  of  new  agricul- 
tural States.  I  think  the  farmers  of  South  Carolina  would  have  had  to 
spend  many  thousands  of  dollars  had  it  not  been  for  some  very  useful  sug- 
gestions they  got  from  us.  While  the  farm  has  been  very  unsuccessful,  I 
think,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  benefits  we  have  received  from  the  ex- 
periments tried  on  it  will  more  than  pay  for  the  money  it  has  cost. 

Q.  During  the  time  that  you  were  here  did  you  devote  any  considerable 
attention  to  dairy  food  and  feeding  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  we  paid  some  attention  to  it. 

Q.  Were  those  experiments  made  public  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  at  least  they  were  to  the  community  here,  and  I  think  they 
derived  considerable  benefit  from  it. 

Q.  How  were  3'ou  employed  ? 

A.  Exactly  as  Thomas  M.  Harvey  was. 

Q.  At  what  salary  ? 

A.  $1,000  a  year. 

Q.  Your  labor  was  all  furnished  you  outside  of  that,  was  it  ? 

A.  Part  of  it  was  paid  when  we  boarded  the  hands.  Our  experience 
was  about  the  same  as  you  haye  heard  detailed  by  Mr.  Harve^'.  Both  of 
our  agreements  were  that  we  were  not  to  board  the  hands,  but  after  we 
found  out  that  we  could  do  it  more  economically  than  we  could  hire  it 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  21 1 

done,  we  done  so.  Economy  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  principal  essentials 
in  the  management  of  this  farm.  For  if  we  hadn't  contrived  ai  d  resorted 
to  every  means  of  economy  I  do  not  know  where  we  would  have  landed 
at  the  end  of  the  year. 

Q.  Have  there  been  many  improvements  made  since  Mr.  Thomas  M. 
Harvey  left  the  farm  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  parf,  of  this  building  was  done  during  my  stay  here.  The 
pig-pen  was  built  during  my  administration.  Part  of  this  building  fund, 
of  which  Mr.  Jackson  spoke,  was  expended  daring  my  administration. 

Q.  This  office,  as  I  understand  it,  was  built  while  Mr.  Harvej-  was  here  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  that  was  all  built  when  I  came  here. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Q.  Mr.  Carter,  at  the  time  you  took  charge  of  the  farm  did  you  receive 
a  copy  of  the  instructions  made  out  by  the  board  of  trustees  for  experi- 
mental plots? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  it  was  here  when  I  came  here.  I  found  it  here.  You  mean 
Mr.  McAllister's  written  programme  ? 

Q.  Yes,  sir. 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  it  was  here. 

Q.  Were  you  ever  interfered  with  by  the  professor  of  agriculture  at 
the  college  in  any  matters  outside  of  that  programme  of  experiments,  or, 
in  other  words,  did  you  not  have  complete  and  entire  control  of  the  whole 
farm  outside  of  that  programme  of  experiments,  which  was  to  be  con- 
ducted under  the  instructions  of  the  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  operated  under  the  instructions  of  the  board  of  local 
managers. 

Q.  But  I  mean,  Mr.  Carter,  there  was  no  college  influence  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  management  of  the  farm  outside  the  programme  of  experi- 
ments prescribed  by  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

A.  Not  the  first  years. 

Q.  Was  there  at  any  time  during  your  administration  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  there  was. 

Q.  Go  on  and  specify  the  time. 

A.  I  don't  know  that  I  can. 

Q.  I  would  like  you  to  specify  the  time,  Mr.  Carter. 

A.  I  do  not  know  that  I  can.     I  will  not  pretend  to  specify  the  time. 

Q.  What  was  the  character  of  the  interference,  Mr.  Carter  ? 

A.  Well,  I  don't  know  that  I  can  specify  the  character  exactly.  It  was 
always  the  understanding  among  us  here  that  the  board  of  local  managers 
were  to  have  control  of  the  balance  of  the  farm  that  was  not  taken  up  by 
the  plots  prescribed  by  the  programme  of  experiments  from  the  college. 

Q.  Well,  in  what  way  was  the  local  committee  interfered  with  by  the 
college  authorities  ? 

A.  Well,  the  experiments  that  were  most  depended  on  here,  and  that 
were  of  most  benefit  to  us,  were  not  carried  out  because  the  local  board  of 
management  could  not  get  any  means  from  the  college  to  carry  them  out, 
and  in  that  way  we  were  interfered  with  in  the  balance  of  the  farming. 
The  college  authorities  limited  the  means  the  second  year  I  was  here,  that 
was  appropriated  for  that  purpose,  and  consequently^  that  limited  the  char- 
acter of  our  experiments,  and  the  experiments  that  we  were  to  carry  out, 
sent  from  the  college,  did  not  do  us  any  good  here.  They  were  such  that 
our  farmers  were  not  interested  in  at  all. 

Q.  You  here  stated  that  shortly  after  the  time  you  took  charge  of  the 
farm  the  public  interest  in  the  management  of  the  farm  began  to  wane,  and 
things  began  to  deteriorate  ? 


218  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  stated  that  this  was  due  mainly  to  the  incompttency  of  the  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  we  always  thought  that  j^ou  were  not  the  proper  person  for 
that  position, 

Q.  Then  how  could  that  be  caused  though  my  incompetency  as  professor 
of  agriculture  at  the  college  ?  You  have  stated  that  the  college  authori- 
ties never  interfered  with  the  management  of  the  farm  outside  of  the  pro- 
gramme plots  ;  but  since  you  took  charge  of  the  farm  you  say  the  interest 
began  to  wane,  the  farm  began  to  deteriorate  in  value  ;  now,  will  you  please 
answer  the  question  whether  it  was  the  incompetency  of  the  professor  of 
agriculture,  who  you  say  did  not  interfere,  or  the  incompetency  of  the  super- 
intendent of  the  farm  ? 

A.  Mr.  Hamilton,  you  have  placed  me  into  rather  an  unpleasant  situa- 
tion. You  have  asked  me  why  I  thought  the  public  interest  died  out,  and 
why  the  value  of  the  farm  deteriorated,  and  I  have  told  you  according  to 
my  judgment.  I  have  nothing  further  to  say  than  that  you  always  have 
heretofore  treated  me  as  a  geEtleman,and  I  have  always  tried  to  treat. you 
as  a  gentleman  in  our  private  affairs ;  but  when  it  comes  to  matters  of 
agriculture,  and  the  manner  in  which  to  conduct  experiments,  I  think  your 
plans  were  the  most  impracticable  of  any  that  I  ever  knew  to  be  promul- 
gated by  anybody,  much  less  by  any  person  who  pretended  to  be  a  professor 
of  agriculture. 

Q.  You  have  also  stated  that  the  college  authorities  were  dilatory  in 
remitting  money  belonging  to  the  experimental  farm  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  we  always  had  trouble  to  get  our  money  any  time. 

Q.  Well,  do  you  know  that  the  college  authorities  ever  kept  back  any 
money  that  was  due  the  Eastern  experimental  farm  when  they  had  it  in 
their  possession,  and  could  send  it? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  suppose  that  was  the  great  difficulty  with  the  business 
manager  of  the  college — he  didn't  have  the  money  to  send  when  we  most 
needed  it.  I  have  nothing  to  reflect  on  the  business  manager  of  the  col- 
lege in  that  respect,  for  I  believe  he  always  sent  us  the  money  with  prompt- 
ness when  he  had  it ;  and  if  he  did  not  have  it,  got  it  as  soon  as  was  pos- 
sible. But  in  reference  to  the  other  question,  the  public  lost  interest  here 
because  the  other  experiments  necessarily  had  to  be  dropped  for  want  of 
means  to  carry  them  on,  and  consequently  the  whole  thing  necessaril}^  had 
to  degenerate  on  account  of  money. 

Q.  Did  you  not  get  the  money  that  was  promised  you  still  at  one  time 
or  other  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  some  time;  but  it  was  like  Punsh's  mother,  who,  it  was 
said,  was  coming  some  time,  but  never  knew  when  she  would  come. 

Q.  But  you  did  get  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;   we  got  it,  and  everything  was  squared  up,  sir,  some  time. 

W.  R.  SiiELMiRE,  affirmed : 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  You  were  superintendent  from  what  time  to  what  time  ? 

A.  From  April,  1879,  imtil  April,  1881  ;  two  years  I  was  here. 

Q.  You  were  appointed  by  whom  ? 

A.  I  was  employed  by  the  committee  that  was  appointed  hj  the  board 
of  trustees  of.  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  and  by  twelve  men  of  the 
club.     They  jointly  appointed  me. 

Q.  Had  you  a  written  contract  ? 

A.  I  had  no  written  contract  the  first  year.     There  was  three  members 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  .  219 

of  the  board  of  trustees  down  here  at  the  time.  General  Beaver  was  one, 
Dr.  Calder  was  another,  and  I  think  the  third  was  Professor  Wickersham. 
General  Beaver  did  not  make  any  agreement  with  me,  except  it  was  the 
same  that  had  been  with  Thomas  M.  Harvey  and  John  I.  Carter. 

Q.  Were  you  ever  connected  with  the  college  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  never,  except  as  superintendent  of  the  farms  here. 

Q.  Will  3'ou  go  on  and  state  your  experience  here  as  superintendent 
of  the  farm  ? 

A.  I  have  here  in  manuscript  what  1  have  to  say  on  the  subject,  and  I 
think  1  can  read  it  so  as  to  take  less  time  than  any  other  way.  [Statement 
appended  to  witness's  testimony.] 

Q.  Mr.  Shelmire,  do  you  make  this  statement  of  your  own  knowledge 
as  to  what  General  Beaver  stated  before  the  legislative  committee  at 
Harrisburg  ? 

A.  Xo,  sir;  I  saw  that  in  a  newspaper  publication,  and  I  state  it  from 
other  sources  that  he  had  said  so. 

Q.  I  just  wish  to  state,  that  if  General  Beaver  made  any  such  applica- 
tion at  the  last  Legislature  I  do  not  know  anything  of  it.  I  don't  think 
he  did,  for  I  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations,  and  I  do 
not  think  he  appeared  before  that  committee  during  the  entire  session. 

A.  Almost  everything  I  have  said  I  can  produce  articles  where  I  got 
my  information  ♦'rom  to  state  it. 

Q.  When  did  you  go  to  this  farm  ? 

A.  About  the  1st  of  April,  1879. 

Q.  How  many  years  were  you  here  ? 

A.  Two  years. 

Q.  Will  you  go  on  and  state  what  3'our  relations  with  the  college  were 
— whether  they  were  friendly  or  not — how  \^ou  were  treated  by  the  college  ? 

A.  Well,  the  first  year  of  my  experience  here  on  the  farm  was  very 
pleasant  and  everything  went  along  smoothly,  but  for  the  second  3- ear  I 
can't  say  so  much.  When  I  first  took  charge  of  the  farm  I  resisted  the 
college,  and  I  found  everything  very  favorable.  The  trustees  seemed  ver}^ 
favorable  to  the  farm,  and  so  the  others  connected  with  the  college.  When 
I  took  charge  of  the  farm  the  experimental  plots  were  pretty  much  run 
down.  I  depended  entirely  upon  the  local  committee  for  advice  on  this 
matter,  so  far  as  their  authority'  went.  That  committee  consisted  of  Milton 
Conard,  now  deceased,  Benjamin  Swain,  and  Nathan  Sharpless.  Through 
this  committee  I  got  my  authority.  They  directed  the  programme  plots 
to  be  plowed  up.  I  wrote  to  the  trustees  of  the  college  and  received  an 
answer,  which  the^^  considered  as  indorsing  our  views,  so  I  plowed  them 
up,  and  was  to  arrange  or  locate  them  on  another  part  of  the  farm.  In 
the  meantime  the  professor  of  agriculture  and  business  manager  aiTived 
and  put  a  stop  to  all  these  improvements. 

Q.  Do  you  say  the  programme  plots  had  been  plowed  up  b^'  3-ou  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  the  plots  had  been  plowed  up.  I  was  ordered  to  plow 
them  up  by  the  local  committee,  and  J  wrote  to  the  board  of  trustees  to 
ascertain  their  views  on  the  subject.  After  receiving  their  letter,  the  agri- 
cultural committee  or  board  of  management  considered  it  as  indorsing 
our  views  of  the  matter,  and  they  directed  me  to  plow  them  up. 

Q.  Did  the  board  of  ti-ustees  visit  yon,  or  a  committee  consisting  of 
members  of  the  board  of  trustees,  while  you  were  superintendent? 

A.  No ;  there  was  none  of  the  trustees  visited  me  during  the  whole  of 
my  administration.  I  wish  to  state,  also,  that  with  regard  to  my  agree- 
ment ;  when  I  came  here  my  agreement  was  to  have  been  the  same  as  was 
Mr.  Harvey's  and  Mr.  Carter's,  the  two  former  superintendents,  with  the 


220  Report  op  the  Committee.  [J^o.  18, 

exception  that  T  was  to  have  eight  hundred  dollars  instead  of  one  thou- 
sand, and  it  was  not  put  in  writing  ;  it  was  left  with  General  Beaver 
to  see  to  it.  At  the  beginning  of  the  next  year,  the  business  manager 
wanted  to  know  if  I  had  papers  showing  my  agreement  as  superintendent, 
and  whether  they  were  signed.  After  some  discussion  about  the  matter 
he  said  he  would — we  would  have  to  have  a  written  agreement  for  the  next 
3^ear.  So  I  entered  into  a  written  agreement,  and  this  agreement  1  would 
like  to  present  to  this  committee  to  show  you  what  it  is  like.  [Copy  of 
agreement  appended  to  witness'  testimony.] 

Q.  By  whom  is  that  agreement  signed  ? 

A.  W.  R.  Shelmire  and  John  Hamilton  were  the  parties  who  signed  it. 
Hamilton  was  business  manager  of  the  college. 

Q.  How  much  did  the  farm  run  behind,  each  year  of  your  administra- 
tion ? 

A.  It  did  not  run  behind  at  all ;  my  agreement  compelled  me  to  keep  it 
up.  If  there  was  not  any  money  to  pay  for  certain  things,  I  would  have 
to  let  it  go  and  do  without.  About  the  time  I  quit,  eight  hundred  and 
eight  dollars  was  due  to  the  farm  from  the  college,  but  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  ever  received  it  or  not. 

Q.  How  did  you  manage  the  stock  and  matters  of  that  kind  connected 
with  the  college  ? 

A.  I  managed  the  stock  the  first  year  I  was  here  according  to  the  views 
of  the  committee ;  the  second  year  I  tried  to  manage  it  under  this  written 
agreement  which  I  have  just  read.  Under  it  I  could  not  sell  any  stock 
from  the  farm  unless  the  permission  to  do  so  was  obtained  first  from  the 
business  manager,  and  by  the  time  I  could  get  his  permission  to  sell,  the 
sale  could  not  be  made,  for  the  prices  had  fallen,  so  that  nothing  was  real- 
ized from  the  sale  of  it.  In  the  way  of  illustration,  I  had  a  calf  for  sale ; 
there  was  a  gentleman  who  lived  out  here  that  wanted  it  very  badly,  and 
offered  me  a  very  fair  price  for  it.  I  wrote  to  see  what  the  business  man- 
ager would  say  about  it,  or  the  professor  of  agriculture,  and  it  took  two 
or  three  days  to  get  to  the  college  and  for  an  answer  to  come  back,  and  so 
by  the  time  I  got  an  answer  he  didn't  want  the  calf ;  so  it  was  with  every- 
thing that  was  sold  in  the  stock  line. 

Q.  Did  you  sell  grain  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  hay  and  everything  we  didn't  need  on  the  farm. 

Q.  How  much  hay  did  you  sell  off  the  place  ? 

A.  As  near  as  I  can  recollect,  I  think  last  year  there  was  about  twelve 
or  fifteen  tons.     You  can  see  how  much  it  was  by  the  reports. 

Q.  In  your  statement  you  have  referred  to  the  Western  farm  ;  were  you 
ever  out  there  to  visit  it  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  I  was  never  out  on  the  Western  farm. 

Q.  Then  you  speak  entirely  from  hearsay  as  to  that  ? 

A.  I  am  speaking  of  their  reports  that  the  Western  farm  sent  in  for  sev- 
eral years. 

Q.  What  is  the  value  of  this  farm  as  compared  with  the  purchase  price 
of  it  ? 

A.  Well,  I  think  the  value  of  the  farm,  taking  the  improvements  that  have 
been  made  here  since  it  was  purchased,  would  make  up  the  difference  in 
the  value  of  the  currency,  so  that  the  farm  would  be  worth  as  much  money 
to-day  as  it  was  when  it  was  purchased. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Q.  Did  you  sell  any  fetock  without  authority  from  the  college  during 
your  stay  here  ? 

A.  Not  exactly  without  authority.     I  tried  to  sell  everything  I  could 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  221 

sell  in  order  to  get  the  salary  that  was  due  me  before  I  left  the  farm,  but 
I  didn't  sell  it  without  authority',  sir. 

Q.  Did  3'ou  have  permission  from  the  professor  of  agriculture  or  board 
of  trustees  to  sell  that  stock  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  do  not  know  that  I  had. 

Q.  Could  you  sell  any  stock  under  that  article  of  agreement  made  with 
the  business  manager  of  the  college,  without  first  obtaining  permission  to 
do  so  from  the  board  of  trustees  or  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  I  suppose  if  this  agreement  1  have  just  read  would  have  been  in  force 
that  would  have  been  so,  but  I  considered  that  it  was  not  in  force  at  that 
time. 

Q.  Why  not  ? 

A.  Because  there  had  been  a  change  made  in  the  order  of  trustees  in 
reference  to  the  management  of  the  farm.  I  wanted  to  sell  some  of  the 
articles  on  the  farm  for  the  purpose  of  raising  some  money  to  pay  my  sal- 
ary. I  had  tried  to  get  it  from  the  college,  but  I  could  not  get  it.  I  wrote 
to  the  president  of  the  college  in  reference  to  selling  some  of  the  stock, 
and  he  wrote  back  to  me  to  confer  with  Milton  Conard,  and  whatever  he 
said  I  should  do,  as  it  would  be  all  right. 

Q.  The  president  of  the  college  wrote  back  to  confer  with  Milton  Conard  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  the  president  of  the  college.  President  Shortlidge.  I  had 
orders  to  write  to  him  on  the  subject  after  this  action  occurred,  to  the  res- 
olution passed  on  the  30th  of  June,  18su,  a  copy  of  which  was  mailed  to 
me  by  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

Q.  Have  you  the  original  of  that  authority  ? 

A.  I  have. 

Q.  Mr.  Shelmire,  you  stated  that  during  the  first  year  of  your  adminis- 
tion  here  you  had  a  pleasant  time  and  everything  went  along  liarmoniously. 
Did  you  carry  out  the  programme  of  experiments  on  the  farm  that  year  ? 

A.  I  did,  as  near  as  it  was  in  ray  power  to  do  so. 

Q.  Did  you,  or  did  you  not,  plow  up  a  great  many  of  the  experimental 
plots  ? 

A.  Yes.  sir ;  for  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  do  otherwise.  I  was  di- 
rected to  plow  them  up  by  the  local  committee  or  board  of  managers. 

Q.  Did  you  recognize  that  the  local  committee  had  authority  to  direct 
you  to  plow  them  up,  without  getting  permission  from  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  college  to  do  so  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  did,  after  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees had  given  the  local  committee  authority  to  do  whatever  they  thought 
was  best  in  the  matter. 

Q.  Did  you  not  understand  that  their  power  was  limited  solely  to  the 
control  of  the  farm  outside  of  this  programme  of  experiments,  which  were 
to  be  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  the  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  I  understood  that  the  local  committee  were  the  persons  most  inter- 
ested in  the  farm  here,  and  that  the  board  of  trustees  had  given  them  the 
power  to  direct  the  management  of  it,  consequently  I  followed  their  in- 
structions. 

Q.  Is  it  a  letter  that  you  received  that  gives  that  authority  to  the  local 
board  from  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  col- 
lege, to  direct  you  to  plow  up  the  plots  ? 

A.  I  say  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  executive  committee.  All  I  was 
to  do  was  to  confer  with  the  local  board  of  managers,  and  I  did  so. 

Q.  From  whom  did  you  get  directions  to  submit  to  the  local  board  of 
managers  the  management  of  this  farm  ? 

A.  From  the  president  of  the  college,  Mr.  Calder. 


222  Report  of  the  Committee.  fNo.  18, 

Q.  Is  that  in  writing  ? 

A.  1  think  I  have  it,  sir. 

Q.  Will  you  produce  it? 

A.  If  I  can  find  it  I  will.  [Witness  produces  letter  dated  February  It, 
18T9.]     This  is  a  copy. 

Q.  Were  there  any  permanent  instructions  printed  by  the  college  for 
you  at  that  time  ? 

A.  Not  that  I  know  of.  I  had  no  instructions  whatever  from  the  col- 
lege. 

Q.  What  was  your  first  contract  ? 

A.  My  first  contract  was  made  between  twelve  men  here  appointed  by 
the  college,  and  the  three  men  which  I  have  mentioned — the  same  ones 
who  made  the  appointment.  It  was  left  with  them.  They  were  the  wit- 
nesses to  it,  and  my  salary  was  to  be  $200  less  than  the  salary  of  Messrs. 
Harvey  and  Carter,  the  superintendents  who  preceded  me. 

Q.  Did  I  understand  you  to  say  that  General  Beaver  was  one  of  these 
three  men  ? 

A.  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  General  Beaver  was  one.  There  was  one  of 
the  executive  committee  absent,  but  I  am  not  certain  whether  it  was  Gen- 
eral Beaver  or  Judge  Orvis. 

Q.  Did  you  not  state  positively  in  your  statement  that  General  Beaver 
was  one  ?  , 

A.  If  I  so  stated  that  General  Beaver  was  there,  I  am  not  certain  of  it 
now.  I  know  that  there  was  one  of  them  absent.  It  may  have  been  Gen- 
eral Beaver. 

Q.  Were  you  interfered  with  at  all  that  first  year,  in  running  the  farm, 
outside  of  the  programme  of  experiments  sent  you  by  the  professor  of 
agriculture  ? 

A.  I  was  not  interfered  with  in  any  way.     There  was  no  interest  taken 
in  the  place  one  way  or  the  other. 
.   Q.  What  was  the  occasion  of  this  new  agreement  being  made  afterwards  ? 

A.  I  think  3^ou  can  answer  that  better  than  I  can. 

Q.  Well,  I  want  to  know  what  your  understanding  of  it  was. 

A.  I  don't  know  what  it  was.  I  can't  tell  you  why  that  new  agreement 
was  made.  It  looked  to  me  that  it  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
more  money  to  run  the  college. 

Q.  Did  they  reduce  the  appropriation  that  year,  in  consequence  of  the 
written  agreement  with  you  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know.  I  know  that  I  did  not  get  my  salary  at  all  until  I 
sold  some  of  the  stock  on  the  farm. 

Q.  That  is  not  an  answer  to  my  question.  I  asked  you  whether  there 
was  any  reduction  made  to  the  Eastern  experimental  farm  for  that  year. 
I  did  not  ask  you  what  money  was  received  under  the  appropriation.  If 
the  appropriation  was  made  for  the  farm,  the  college  was  responsible  for 
the  money,  and  the  farm  would  have  to  get  it,  and  afterwards  did  get  it ; 
but  I  asked  you  whether  you  knew  of  any  reduction  being  made  in  the 
appropriation. 

A.  I  do  not  know  of  any  reduction. 

Q.  Then,  upon  what  do  yon  base  the  statement  you  have  just  made  ? 

A.  I  believe  it  to  be  a  fact,  but  it  is  only  a  matter  of  belief  with  me. 

Q.  You  stated  you  were  up  at  the  college  before  you  made  this  written 
contract  with  the  business  manager.  Was  there  any  objection  made  on 
your  part  while  there  to  making  the  contract  with  the  executive  committee 
of  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  there  was  not. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  223 

Q.  Did  3^ou  meet  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  did  not  meet  the  executive  committee  of  the  board,  I 
met  the  whole  board. 

Q.  Did  you  meet  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  in  the  spring  of 
1880? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  that  was  at  another  time. 

Q.  Was  not  then  the  agreement  consummated  that  you  have  read  here 
to-day  ? 

A.  Do 'you  mean  an  appointment  was  made  at  that  time  for  this  agree- 
ment which  we  have  just  read  here? 

Q.  I  mean  was  that  agreement  made  at  that  time  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  it  was  made  after  that. 

Q.  What  was  the  reason  ? 

A.  Because  we  could  not  come  to  any  agreement  at  that  time. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  the  circumstances  that  attended  that  meeting ; 
whether  there  was  any  effort  made  to  make  an  agreement,  and  what  was 
the  reason  that  there  was  none  made  ? 

A.  There  was  nothing  done.  It  was  a  fixed  matter  of  fact  that  the  salary 
was  to  remain  the  same,  $800  a  year,  but  with  the  running  expenses  of  the 
farm  taken  off. 

Q.  When  I  came  down  here  afterwards,  was  there  any  difficulty  in  mak- 
ing the  agreement  that  has  been  read  here  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  a  great  deal  of  difficulty. 

Q.  You,  however,  agreed  to  sign  the  agreement  as  it  is  written  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  agreed  under  protest. 

Q.  You  signed  your  name  to  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  carry  out  the  provisions  of  that  agreement  ? 

A.  I  did,  so  far  as  was  in  my  power. 

Q.  Did  you  not  state  that  you  had  sold  off  stock  and  material  belonging 
to  the  farm,  without  orders  from  the  professor  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  At  the  time  I  did  so  I  did  not  consider  that  agreement  was  worth  the 
paper  it  was  written  on. 

Q.  Why  did  you  consider  it  worthless  ? 

A.  I  had  taken  it  to  a  lawyer,  and  I  was  told  that  legally  it  was  of  no 
account. 

Q.  When  you  left  the  farm,  did  you  leave  as  much  stock  here  as  you 
found  here  when  you  came  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  leave  sufficient  food  for  the  stock  that  was  here  when  you 
left  ? 

A.  I  don't  know  whether  I  did  or  not. 

Q.  Did  you  not  sell  off  material  from  the  farm  so  that  food  had  to  be 
purchased  in  order  to  preserve  the  animals  that  were  left  upon  the  farm  ? 

A.  No,  sir.     It  made  little  difference  to  me.     I  oold  off  enough  to  pay 
off  the  debt  that  was  on  the  place  at  the  time,  and  pay  me  my  salary. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Q.  Were  you  not  aware  that  the  professor  of  agriculture  was  subject  to 
the  orders  of  the  president  of  the  college — also  the  business  manager,  su- 
perintendent of  experimental  farms — when  you  sold  these  things  from  the 
farm  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  was.     I  think  this  letter  covers  that  ground. 

(Letter  dated  June  30,  1880,  read.) 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  Had  you  directions  from  the  president  of  the  college  to  sell  ? 


224  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  I  had,  under  advisement  with  Milton  Conard,  and  I  advised  with  him 
what  was  to  be  sold. 

Q.  Did  you  sell  this  stock  at  full  market  value  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  think  I  did. 

Q.  What  kind  of  stock  was  it  ? 

A.  It  was  mostly  old  stock.  There  was  a  Jersey  cow,"  Sea  Gull  " — she 
was  a  very  old  cow — and  an  Alderney  calf,  and  there  were  several  other 
head  of  stock  I  sold.  And  then  I  sold  some  other  articles  of  grain  and 
feed. 

Q.  Can  you  state  what  they  were  sold  for  ? 

A.  The  books  will  show  what  they  were  sold  for. 

Q.  Did  you  give  notice  of  the  sale,  in  the  first  place  ? 

A.  I  can't  state  that  without  reference  to  the  books.  The  books  are  all 
audited,  and  you  can  see  for  yourself. 

Q,  Were  there  many  of  those  experiments  carried  on  after  j^ou  plowed 
up  these  plots  ? 

A.  Not  a  great  many.  Some  few  were  carried  on,  such  as  we  could  out- 
side of  programme  plots. 

Q.  Your  operations  outside  of  that,  then,  were  simply  to  carry  on  the 
farming  in  an  ordinary  way  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  simply  as  in  other  farms  in  the  neighborhood. 

Q.  You  did  not  pay  any  wages  to  help  out  of  your  salary  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  but  1  had  to  carry  the  expenses  of  the  farm  on  my  own 
credit. 

Q.  Did  you  not  think  to  run  the  farm  in  an  ordinary  way,  as  you  say 
this  one  was  run  by  you,  at  $800  a  year  salary,  as  a  pretty  good  salary  to 
run  an  ordinary  farm  ? 

A.  It  might  have  been  to  run  an  ordinary  farm,  but  we  were  required 
to  keep  up  experimental  plots,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  responsibility 
connected  with  it. 

Q.  But,  I  judge  from  the  evidence  you  have  given,  you  did  not  make 
many  experiments. 

A.  Well,  if  I  did  not,  it  was  not  my  fault,  but  it  was  the  fault  of  the 
agricultural  authorities  in  not  giving  me  the  means  to  do  it  with. 

Q.  But  did  you  not  think  this  salary  was  rather  excessive,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, for  the  payment  of  managing  the  farm  as  this  one  was  man- 
aged by  you  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  considered  it  was  rather  excessive  the  way  the  farm  was 
run,  but  I  would  consider  $800  a  year  a  very  small  salary  to  carry  out  all 
the  experiments  that  should  be  carried  out  on  it. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Q.  I  should  like  to  ask  Mr.  Shelmire  a  few  more  questions.  You  say 
you  took  possession  on  the  1st  of  April,  1879? 

A.  I  came  here  before  that. 

Q.  But  your  salary  began  at  that  time  ? 

A.  My  salary  began  at  that  time  ;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  your  salary  to  be  at  that  time  ? 

A.  $800  a  year,  and  then  I  had  the  privilege  of  keeping  a  family  in  the 
farm-house  from  the  products  of  the  farm. 

Q.  You  made  out  a  report  of  your  account  on  the  22d  da,y  of  December, 
1879,  which  was  audited,  and  the  time  you  had  been  on  the  farm  was  from 
the  1st  of  April  up  to  the  1st  day  of  December,  1879  ;  that  was  the  length  of 
time  for  which  your  report  was  made  out ;  but  did  you  not  credit  yourself 
in  that  report  with  $800,  the  full  salary  for  the  whole  year,  although  you 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  225 

had  served  less  than  nine  months  of  the  time  for  which  you  were  employed 
and  for  which  the  $800  were  to  be  paid  you  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  but  that  money  was  not  received  by  me  at  that  time.  The 
salary  credited  to  myself  was  the  full  amount  of  the  salarv  for  the  year. 

Q.  When  was  that  $800  due  ? 

A.  Half  of  it  was  due  on  the  5th  of  August  and  the  rest  was  due  in 
February. 

Q.  You  were  to  get  $800  from  the  1st  of  April,  1879,  to  the  1st  of 
April,  1880,  were  you  not  ? 

A.  That  was  the  whole  year's  salary  ;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  not  take  credit  for  $800,  after  having  served  not  eight  months 
of  that  time  ? 

A.  It  was  merely  on  the  books  as  a  credit  to  me,  that  was  all. 

Q.  But  so  far  as  the  books  say,  was  not  that  credit  due  you  and  payable 
at  any  time,  and  could  you  not  have  collected  it  if  you  had  nothing  else  to 
go  by  than  the  credit  of  the  books  ? 

A.  I  presume  the  books  showed  that,  but  it  was  not  at  all  likely  that  I 
would  receive  my  money  before  it  was  due  me. 

Q.  But  you  have  taken  credit  for  your  year's  salary  at  that  time  when 
you  knew  it  was  not  due  until  four  months  after  that  ? 

A.  T  presume,  strictly,  I  should  not  have  taken  that  credit,  and  it  may 
have  been  a  matter  of  error  on  my  part  for  taking  credit  for  it  that  time. 
It  was  the  first  report  I  made  out,  and  I  had  no  experience  in  the  matter. 
I  thought  it  was  all  right  at  the  time. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Q.  Why  were  those  plots  plowed  up  ? 

A.  Because  there  was  nothing  in  them.  They  were  doing  no  good,  and 
we  did  not  consider  experiments  which  were  intended  to  be  carried  out  on 
them  amounted  to  anything.  Another  reason  was,  we  considered  the  land 
in  very  bad  order,  and  it  necessary  to  plow  them  up  and  put  them  on  good 
land. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Mr.  Shelmire,  we  would  like  to  know  what  was  the  amount  received 
for  the  stock  you  sold. 

A.  I  could  not  tell  you  exactly  any  more,  but  I  do  not  think  it  was  over 
$110.     The  books  will  show  what  I  sold  them  for  and  what  all  I  sold. 

Q.  Did  you  sell  that  at  private  sale  or  at  auction  ? 

A.  I  sold  them  at  private  sale. 

Q.  To  whom  did  you  sell  them  ? 

A.  To  a  man  by  the  name  of  Thadeas — a  cattle  dealer  in  the  neighbor- 
hood here. 

By  Mr.  Sharpless : 

Q.  I  want  to  ask  you  whether  this  local  committee  did  not  have  in  their 
possession  letters  from  the  authorities  of  the  college  giving  you  permission 
to  sell  this  stock  ? 

A.  I  think  Mr.  Milton  Conard  holds  letters  showing  their  authority  to 
act. 

The  following  was  submitted  by  W.  R.  Shelmire,  as  his  statement. 

W.  F.  Reber,  Reporter. 
Having  once  occupied  the  unenviable  position  of  superintendent  of  this 
farm,  and  having  been  invited  to  leave  by  the  powers  that  be  and  still 
are ;  and  lest  you  should  suppose  that  ill-will  and  hatred  towards  the  col- 
lege authorities  prompts  me  to  say  what  follows,  I  will  endeavor  to  set 
the  matter  right  in  that  particular  first. 
15— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


226  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

I  have  no  such  ill-will.  I  should  rejoice  to  see  such  an  eminent  college 
under  the  patronage  of  our  State,  devoted  to  the  improvements  of  agri- 
culture and  mechanic  arts.  I  should  be  happy  to  see  a  grand  successful 
institution,  devoted  to  technology,  belonging  to  the  farmers  and  mechanics 
of  this  Commonwealth.  I  should  like  to  see  an  institution  rivaling  the 
Stevens  Institute  of  New  Jersey,  or  the  Scientific  School  of  Yale,  or  the 
University  of  Michigan,  or  Cornell;  but  those  things,  however  desirable, 
can,  I  believe,  never  come  wholly  from  government  funds.  I  believe  the 
early  history  of  every  college  is  a  struggle  for  existence,  and  mainly  for 
the  want  of  funds.  The  great  universities  of  the  world  have  had  millions 
expended  in  them ;  but  mainly  through  the  munificence  of  many  wealthy 
friends.  But  our  State  College  seems  not  to  have  gained  the  favor  of  any 
one  having  money  to  dispose  of  in  that  way. 

About  th3  year  1868,  Congress  gave  to  each  State  a  certain  amount  of 
public  lands,  the  proceeds  of  which  under,  certain  restrictions,  were  appro- 
priated ;  I  quote  the  law  :  to  the  "  endowment,  support  and  maintenance, 
of  at  least  one  college,  where  the  leading  object  shall  be,  without  excluding 
other  scientific  and  classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to 
teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  me- 
chanic arts,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  of  the  States  may  respec- 
tively prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of 
the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of  life." 
"  The  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes — not  lawyers,  doctors, 
and  clergymen — but  farmers  and  mechanics,"  in  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  of  life.  It  was  the  plain  intent  of  the  National  Legislature, 
not  that  this  money  should  go  to  keep  up  the  whole  paraphernalia  and  ex- 
pense of  a  huge  college,  but  rather  to  the  support  and  maintenance  of  a 
chair  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts  in  such  a  college  as  was  willing  to 
subscribe  to  the  stipulated  regulations.  For  this  purpose  the  $30,000  be- 
longing to  the  farmers  and  mechanics  of  this  State  is  ample,  and  a  large 
balance  to  spare  to  run  our  experimental  farms  or  stations.  In  accord- 
ance with  my  humble  notion  of  the  thing,  $30,000  is  a  very  meager  sum 
with  which  to  run  a  college  to  come  in  competition  with  the  many  excel- 
lent institutions  already  in  prosperous  existence. 

The  money  already  belonging  to  the  laboring  classes  is  suflScient  for 
their  purpose,  if  rightfully  appropriated,  while  the  same  sum  to  the  trustees 
of  the  State  College  may  \n\  and  no  doubt  is,  very  inadequate  to  run  their 
machine — it  is  only  that,  and  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  lubrication,  too. 

General  Beaver  has  said  that  they  were  doing  more  with  their  $30,000 
than  any  other  college  with  twice  that  amount.  He  should  have  said,  were 
trying  to  do,  and  I  would  fully  agree  with  him.  But  I  should  rather  say 
they  were  trying  to  do  more  with  this  sum  than  any  other  college  with  ten 
times  the  amount. 

Extravagance,  indeed,  has  characterized  the  enterprise  from  the  start, 
and  there  is  no  improvement  of  late  years. 

In  the  winter  of  1879  and  1880  their  huge  factory  of  a  building  was 
heated  throughout  by  steam,  at  an  expense  of  not  less  than  $10,000.  Five 
thousand  dollars  more  was  spent  the  same  year  in  building  (the  fund,  the}'^ 
tell  us,  allows  of  no  such  expenditure)  a  house  for  one  of  the  professors. 
One  thousand  dollars  was  spent  at  the  same  time  on  the  laboratory — all  well 
enough  in  itself  if  there  were  sufficient  pupils  to  warrant  it.  And  these  sums, 
be  it  remembered,  in  addition  to  the  $3{i,000  interest  on  the  endowment. 
And,  further,  note  the  fact  that  this  $30,000  is  the  only  visible  means  of 
support.     The  additional  money  of  course  comes  from  the  notes  indorsed 


Leo.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  227 

by  General  Beaver  and  others  of  the  trustees.  Very  kind,  to  be  sure,  but 
who  is  to  pay  the  fiddler  in  the  end  ? 

Let  us  compare  General  Beaver's  pet  with  the  Illinois  Industrial  Uni- 
versity, to  which  Champaign  county  alone  gave  $400,000.  This  success- 
ful college  was  established  about  the  year  1872.  Successive  colleges  and 
schools  have  been  added  as  required,  until  four  colleges,  including  twelve 
distinct  schools,  have  been  organized.  These  conjprise  the  college  of  agri- 
culture, of  engineering,  of  natural  science,  of  literature  and  science,  of  arts 
and  design. 

A  fine  art  gallery  was  added  in  1874.  The  steady  aim  of  the  trustees 
has  been  to  give  the  agricultural  college  the  largest  development  practicable, 
and  to  meet  the  full  demand  of  agricultural  education.  The  total  number 
of  pupils  in  1880  was  four  hundred  and  thirty-four,  of  whom  one  hundred 
and  thirty-one  were  in  the  preparatory  department,  which  department  was 
to  be  discontinued,  the  high  schools  of  the  State  being  sufficient  for  that 
purpose.  Illinois  does  with  an  income  of  less  than  $30,000  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  her  land  grant  fund,  or  about  the  income  of  our  college.  Whether 
the  college  receives  more  resources  I  cannot  state ;  it  is  very  pi'obable  it 
does ;  but  it  matters  little,  for  the  case  is  plain  that  it  is  accomplishing  the 
results  for  which  it  was  founded. 

It  graduated  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  pupils  up  to  1879,  or  on  an 
average  of  nearly  thirty-three  a  year.  It  received  three  diplomas  and  a 
medal  from  the  Centennial  Exposition,  and  a  gold  medal  from  Paris  in 
1878.  If  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  ever  won  a  medal  or  diploma  I 
never  heard  of  it — excepting  the  two  silver  medals  given  to  the  Eastern 
farm  for  displays  oi  fruit  on  two  occasions. 

Now,  let  us  refer  to  the  catalogue  of  1880 ;  I  have  none  later,  but  this 
will  answer  for  a  fair  average  year,  if  not  a  maximum,  of  our  great  college  : 
We  find  there  are  fifteen  instructors  and  about  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
students,  I  have  reason  for  believing,  for  there  was  not  that  manj^  only 
sixty-four  of  whom  are  in  the  college  proper.  They  give  but  twenty-two 
freshmen,  and  half  of  these,  in  all  probability,  would  go  no  further,  and  but 
five  students  in  the  senior  class.  We  find  they  have  graduated  but  one 
hundred  and  five  students  in  twenty  years,  an  average  of  only  five  per  year, 
at  a  cost  of  $6,000  a  head  ;  and  of  the  entire  number  of  graduates  but  eighteen 
are  farmers,  while  fifteen  are  lawyers.  There  was  eighty  pupils  in  the  pre- 
paratory department  who  could  have  obtained  a  far  better  education  in  the 
Philadelphia  high  school,  or  in  any  one  of  our  State  normal  schools.  The 
contrast  of  these  two  schools  places  our  State  College  in  a  ridiculous  light, 
and  the  only  wonder  to  my  mind  is  that  it  has  not  been  pushed  to  the  wall 
long  ago.  It  has  already  absorbed  $350,000  of  the  State's  money,  in  addi- 
tion to  its  regular  yearl}'  income,  and  no  doubt  would  like  to  have  $350,000 
more.  It  is  not  my  intention,  however,  to  touch  on  the  use  and  progress, 
(or  rather  continuance,  for  1  fail  to  see  progress)  of  this  institution,  but 
more  particularly  to  show  up  the  contemptible  spirit  and  niggardly  mean- 
ness manifested  by  the  college  authorities  towards  the  Eastern  farm  in  the 
particular,  and  all  three  farms  in  general,  and  to  ask  you,  gentlemen,  if  there 
is  no  remedy  whereby  the  farmers  of  this  State  can  obtain  their  just  dues. 

There  is  nothing  more  apparent  than  the  fact  that  the  manner  in  which 
experimental  farms  are  conducted,  has  been  (and  is)  farcical  in  the  extreme. 
At  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  bill  giving  the  Congressional  funds  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Agricultural  College,  there  was  a  strong  party  in  the  Legis- 
lature opposed  to  this  money  going  in  that  direction,  and  they  advocated 
the  plan  that  a  portion  of  the  same  be  used  for  experimental  farms.  Mr. 
McAllister  saw  there  was  no  hope  of  the  money  going  to  Centre  county, 


Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

and,  although  not  favorable  to  the  farm  projects,  was  sharp  enough  to  see 
that  through  it  alone  lay  their  only  hope  of  success. 

So  a  compromise  was  effected,  and  the  money  did  go  to  the  present  recip- 
ients on  the  condition  that  they  were  to  establish,  support,  and  maintain 
three  experimental  model  farms,  &c.  The  spirit  and  the  plain  intent  of  the 
law  was  that  the  farmers  should  have  a  very  considerable  portion  of  that 
sum  for  experimental  purposes.  That  the  trustees  at  that  time  admitted 
this  fact  may  be  seen  from  their  own  reports — 1869,  page  three. 

'•About  $10,000  have  been  expended  by  the  public-spirited  citizens  of 
Chester,  Centre,  and  Indiana  counties  in  stocking  the  farms  in  their  re- 
spective localities,  and  excellent  results  are  expected  to  follow  the  working 
of  them  under  a  strict  adherence  to  a  well-considered  formula  adopted  bj' 
the  trustees.  The  sum  of  $6,000  is  set  apart  each  year  for  the  conduct  of 
the  farms,  $2,000  to  each,  drawn  from  the  amouiit  derived  from  the  endow- 
ment, and  twenty -five  acres  on  each  farm  for  experimental,  the  remainder 
of  each  to  be  farmed  as  model  farms."  This  sounds  verj'  high-toned  ;  and 
in  another  report  we  are  told  that  this  small  appropriation  shall  be  In- 
creased. 

The  great  mistake  made  was  in  not  stipulating  in  the  law  the  exact 
amount  each  farm  should  receive.  The  sum,  so  far  from  being  increased, 
was  curtailed,  and  dithcult  to  get  at  that.  For  three  or  four  j-ears  the 
Eastern  farm  received  $2,000  per  year,  then  $1,000  per  year  until  1880,  and 
what  it  receives  now  I  cannot  state,  or  whether  it  gets  anything.  The 
money,  too,  was  usually  paid  in  notes,  the  farm  being  compelled  to  pay  the 
discounts  or  wait  until  due. 

I  cannot  now  give  the  exact  figures  received  by  the  other  farms,  but  it 
is  claimed  that  the  Central  farm  almost  runs  itself  This  is  not  hard  to 
explain,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  twenty-five  acres  set  apart  for  ex- 
periments is  about  the  only  part  of  the  farm  kept  up.  Certain  is  it  that 
the  Central  farm  receives  very  little  "  pap,"  and  it  is  equally  certain  it  is 
very  far  from  being  model.  In  truth,  the  model  business  was  never 
attempted  but  once.  All  three  farms  have  so  degenerated  as  to  become  a 
standing  joke  in  their  respective  neighborhoods. 

The  Western  farm  was  purchased  for  $18,124  25  (so  says  the  college 
report  for  1869,  page  79);  but  the  truth  is,  that  Harry  White,  Esquire, 
received  but  $16,000  for  it ;  the  additional  $2,<jO0,  or  thereabouts,  was  used 
for  building  purposes,  notwithstanding  the  law  of  Congress  expressly  for- 
bids the  use  of  any  money,  directly  or  indirectly,  for  the  erection  or  repair 
of  buildings.  By  making  it  appear  that  this  farm  cost  about  $18,O0U,  it 
was  hoped  to  evade  this  restriction. 

But  this  is  onl3^  one  of  the  many  underhand  tricks  practiced  by  those  in 
control  to  deceive  the  public  and  the  Legislature.  The  Western  farm,  too, 
ceased  to  be  an  experimental  farm  several  years  ago,  and  has  been  rented 
on  the  shares  ;  but  the  renter  is  still  catalogued  as  its  superintendent. 

The  plea  is  that  the  farm  must  be  divided  and  put  in  order  before  it  is 
fit  for  experimental  purposes.  This  may  be  true ;  but  if  the  place  had  re- 
ceived its  appropriation  of  $2,000,  as  was  due  it,  it  could  have  been  placed 
in  excellent  order  long  before  this,  and  without  any  stretch  of  conscience 
or  resort  to  any  underhand  methods.  Of  course,  in  that  case,  the  money 
would  not  have  gone  to  the  main  institution.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time 
how  soon  the  other  two  farms  will  follow  the  road  of  the  Western.  The 
truth  is,  the  managers  never  accepted  the  stipulations  in  regrrd  to  these 
farms  in  good  faith,  and  I  know,  from  personal  conversations  on  the  subject, 
that  they  would  gladly  sell  out  the  farms,  or  would  give  them  away,  if  they 
could  at  the  same  time  retain  the  money.    They  admit  them  to  be  a  useless 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.   \j^  "  "^  229 

burden  on  the  college,  and  their  problem  is  to  treat  them  #ith  as  little  con-  ,>^ 
sideration  as  possible  ;  consequently,  there  has  always  been  "  a  great  fido 
about  nothing  "  concerning  that  well  considered  formula  adopted  by  the 
board. 

The  programme  referred  to  here  was  nothing  more  than  a  shameless 
fraud  fastened  on  the  farms  for  the  mere  purpose  of  keeping  up  a  sem- 
blance of  doing  something,  and  it  has  always  been  a  laughing-stock  to 
practical  farmers.  Carried  on  for  a  period  of  twelve  years  or  more,  they 
are  utterly  valueless  in  results,  notwithstanding  the  statement  of  the 
former  professor  of  agriculture.  Two  years  ago  this  gentleman  said,  "  I 
am  about  to  begin  compiling  the  results  of  the  last  ten  years  of  experi- 
ments;  and  if,  when  they  are  published,  they  do  not  convey  information 
upon  the  subjects  upon  which  no  set  of  experiments  have  been  tried  in 
this  countr}',  I  will  feel  that  time  has  indeed  been  wasted."  And  wasted 
it  has  been  ;  for  this  valuable  compilation  has  never  yet,  to  my  knowledge, 
seen  the  light  of  day.  The  present  professor  of  agriculture — who  is  a 
man  of  much  learning,  a  thorough  chemist,  and  an  experienced  farmer — 
plainly  asserts  his  disapproval  of  any  such  scheme,  and  fails  to  see  wherein 
the  "  well  considered  formula "  has  been  of  the  slightest  value  to  the 
farmer  of  agricultural  science.  These  programme  plots  have  since  been 
discontinued ;  but  have  we  anything  better  substituted.  I  pray  you, 
gentlemen,  examine  the  details  of  this  Eastern  farm. 

Do  3^ou  find  the  latest  improved  machinery  or  the  best  thorough-bred 
stock,  or  buildings  at  all  suited  for  a  place  that  is  to  be  an  example  to  the 
farmers  of  the  State  ? 

Is  there  anything  model  about  the  old  barn,  or  the  rottening  corn-(!rib, 
or  the  failing  orchards  ?  Is  there  anything  to  be  gained  by  using  expensive 
dried  blood  as  a  fertilizer,  while  the  manure  lies  for  two  years  rotting  and 
■wasting  in  the  barn-yard  ?  Is  there  anything  to  be  learned  by  experi- 
menting on  the  tail-end  of  a  drove  of  cattle,  some  of  which  would  eat  a 
whole  crib  of  corn  and  make  no  show  for  it  ?  Is  it  to  the  credit  of  the 
place  that  weeds  are  allowed  to  run  riot,  the  hay  crop  harvested  full  of 
bullet  weeds  and  mullens,  the  fences  not  attended  to,  and  a  thousand  and 
one  other  things  should  go  undone,  because  enough  help  is  not  hired  to  do 
the  work  on  the  place  ?  Don't  let  it  be  understood  I  blame  the  superin- 
tendent for  these  things.  Not  at  all.  He  works  the  place  to  the  best  of 
his  ability,  and  to  the  extent  of  the  money  grudgingly  dealt  out  to  him — 
if,  indeed,  he  received  from  the  college  one  cent  more  than  the  produce  of 
the  place  the  past  j^ear,  or  more  than  enough  to  pay  his  salary. 

The  college  never  did,  and  does  not  now,  want  to  be  hampered  with 
these  farms,  and  is  not  willing  to  give  one  dollar  that  can  be  avoided  to 
their  support  and  maintenance.  ' 

The  establishment  of  the  farms,  under  existing  conditions,  may  have 
been  an  error,  but  this  does  not  excuse  the  trustees  for  negligence ;  and 
certain  it  is  that  a  portion  of  that  money  should  rightfully  be  used  for  ex- 
perimental i>  irposes.  Inasmuch  as  the  State  college  has  completely 
failed  to  conduct  experimental  and  model  farms,  to  say  nothing  else  of  its 
own  failure  to  carry  out  the  intentions  of  the  land  act,  it  is  certainly  in 
order  to  call  them  to  account,  and  demand  that  the  Legislature  make  a 
better  disposition  of  the  $3a,0u0,  which  was  never  intended  should  be  ex- 
pended entirely  to  run  all  the  departments  of  an  immense  college — immense 
so  far  as  ideas  are  concerned,  but  very  small  when  practical  results  are 
taken  into  account. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  saj^,  in  this  place,  what  shall  take  the  place  of  the 
State  College  or,  rather,  to  what  better  use  the  $30,U00  investment  can  be 


230  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

put.  But  I  do  say,  most  positively,  it  is  a  scandalous  shame  and  disjjrace  to 
the  State  that  the  farmers  could  not  derive  more  benefit  from  it.  W4iether 
the  money  be  given  to  some  other  institution,  or  whether  it  remain  with 
the  present  recipients,  there  is  one  thing  the  farmers  demand,  and  that  one 
thing,  of  all  others,  is  an  agricultural  experimental  station.  These  sta- 
tions can  very  profitably  take  the  place  of  our  present  experimental  farms, 
and  I  do  not  exaggerate  when  I  say  that  one  of  these  institutions  would, 
in  a  short  time,  do  more  good  than  the  State  College  has  ever  done  from  its 
inception  to  the  present  time.  Already  South  Carolina,  New  Jersey,  Con- 
necticut, and  New  York  each  have  experimental  stations.  Germany  has 
two  for  every  million  of  its  inhabitants,  and  at  this  rate  the  United  States 
would  have  one  hundred  and  Pennsylvania  eight.  But  we  only  ask  for 
one,  well  endowed,  and  would  be  thankful  for  as  many  more  as  the  gener- 
ous Legislature  would  see  fit  to  give  us.  If  the  farmers  demand  an  exper- 
iment station,  they  also  demand  that  it  be  placed  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Board  of  Agriculture,  which  body  has  steadily  grown  in  favor,  and  now 
commands  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  whole  State.  Indeed,  it  would 
be  well — far  better  than  the  present  plan — if  the  whole  endowment  fund 
could  be  dispensed  under  this  hand  and  seal,  and  section  five  of  the  act 
creating  the  board  gives  them  power  to  hold  in  trust,  and  exercise  control 
over  donations  or  bequests  made  to  them  for  promotions  of  agriculture  and 
the  general  interests  of  husbandry.  Section  three  provides  for  payment  of 
traveling  expenses  of  the  members,  without  which  the  board  would  be  vir- 
tually without  membersliip  or  its  business,  however  important,  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  few.  This  is  one  of  the  greatest  defects  in  the  organization  of  the 
State  College.  The  trustees  are  compelled  to  bear  their  own  expenses,  and, 
consequently,  but  few  farmers  can  afford  to  accept  the  position.  Its  affairs, 
therefore,  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  small  number  of  men  located  in  its  vicinity. 
The  college  people  are  continually  harping  on  the  idea  that  the  farmers 
may,  if  they  will,  soon  have  its  affairs  in  their  own  hands,  whereas  it  is 
utterly  absurd  to  think  of  such  a  thing — they  have  not  a  ghost  of  a  chance. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  necessary  for  our  agricultural  societies  to  send  dele- 
gates to  the  college  in  Centre  county  to  select  trustees.  This  meeting  is 
held  in  mid-summer  in  the  midst  of  harvest,  and  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  case  a  better  plan  to  exclude  farmers  could  not  well  be  devised.  The 
trustees  are  selected  at  this  annual  meeting,  and  of  course  they  are  by  no 
means  representative  of  the  farming  interest  nor  of  the  various  sections 
of  the  State.  When  chosen,  they  must  bear  their  own  expenses,  and  men 
of  means  only  can  afford  to  accept  the  trust.  The  board  of  trustees  is 
totally  wrong  in  its  principal  and  organization,  and  not  just  exactly  as  the 
governing  element  of  the  college,  but  as  a  body  who  have  the  disposal  of 
$30,000  of  the  people's  money. 

Once  more,  and  I  am  done.  During  last  winter  General  Beaver  took  oc- 
casion, before  a  committee  of  the  Legislature,  to  sa}^  the  $50,000  had  been 
expended  on  the  Eastern  experimental  farm  ;  that  the  people  in  its  neigh- 
borhood reaped  great  benefit  therefrom,  (meaning  in  a  pecuniary  sense,) 
that  one  of  the  superintendents  made  money  enough  out  of  it  to  buy  a 
farm,  and,  finally,  that  the  fuss  then  being  raised  was  only  a  blackmailing 
operation.  It  looks  too  much  as  if  the  college  people  were  growing  des- 
perate to  stoop  to  such  petty  and  untrue  statements.  They  are  hardly 
worthy  of  further  consideration,  and  we  can  only  stop  to  commiserate  the 
extreme  smallness  of  the  mind  that  prompted  them,  or  to  inquire  into  the 
motive  which  inspired  them  that  if  it  were  just  and  possible.  But  I  for- 
bear these  things,  and  will  only  say  that  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  it 
came  to  light  some  day  that  a  prominent  individual  of  Bellefonte  holds  a 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  231 

heavy  mortgage  on  the  college  property  to  cover  the  $40,000,  more  or  less, 
of  indorsed  notes,  carried  from  year  to  year,  now  outstanding.  The  col- 
lege does  a  heavy  business  in  notes,  and  the  indorsers  of  them  no  doubt 
feel  an  earnest  solicitude  for  its  welfare. 

It  was  news  to  the  neighbors  of  the  farm  to  hear  that  they  were  making 
money  out  of  it ;  especially  to  those  who  contributed  so  liberally  to  its 
support  in  its  infancy,  alas  !  to  receive  so  small  a  percentage  of  benefit  from 
it.  If  the  people  here  are  benefited  in  pocket  by  it,  praj',  why  did  the 
General  ask  the  last  Legislature  for  $3,000  more  to  send  to  it.  But  then 
this  was  well  understood  to  be  only  a  .    .  entirely  too  apparent, 

however,  to  be  of  any  service  to  General  Beaver,  in  this  county,  at  least. 
The  fling  at  the  superintendent,  who  bought  a  farm  on  his  retirement,  is 
wicked,  mean,  and  contemptible.  It  is  very  plain  who  is  meant,  and  equally 
plain  that  the  character  of  the  one  assailed  is  so  far  above  reproach  it  can- 
not be  impeached  by  any  such  blackmailing  assertions.  We  shall  probably 
next  hear  of  the  creamery  started  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  farm,  and  of 
the  immense  Avondale  warehouse  built  from  the  profits  of  two  years'  ad- 
ministration !  But  it  IS  certainly  true  that  such  unwarranted  and  uncalled 
for  remarks  will  finally  revert  to  their  author,  and  cause  more  harm  to  the 
institution  and  the  individual  who  uttered  them  than  to  the  persons  they 
were  intended  to  injure.  The  statement  that  $50,000  has  been  spent  at  the 
Eastern  farms  is  nearer  the  marks,  but  not  in  the  same  sense  General  Beaver 
would  mean  to  convey.  The  idea  implied  was  that  the  farm  had  received 
a  great  deal  of  money  from  the  parent  institution  ;  but  the  truth  is,  the 
amount  is  so  small,  when  compared  with  their  own  expenditure,  that  Gen- 
eral Beaver  was  ashamed  to  mention  it. 

The  following  statements  are  approximately  correct,  and  embrace  a  pe- 
riod of  twelve  years,  from  1869  to  1880,  inclusive  : 

Eastern  farm  received  from  State  College, $14,53t 

From  produce, donations,  &c.,      ...    27,286 

From  State  for  building  purposes, 5,000 

Total  receipts, $46,823 

This  money  was  expended  as  follows  : 

For  permanent  improvements, $2,457 

For  conducting,       ,                9,911 

For  stock  and  equipments, 4,171 

For  living  expenses  and  board, 3,626 

For  labor,      ...                        10,058 

For  superintendent's  salary,             11,100 

For  building — State  appropriation, .    ,  5,000 

Total  expenditures, $46,823 

Does  this  not  prove  that  the  farm  itself  has  been  largely  sustaining,  not- 
withstanding the  extra  expenses  of  those  useless  programme  plots  the  farm 
has  been  compelled  to  carry  ?  Of  the  income  of  the  farm,  the  college  has 
not  supplied  one  third,  and  not  enough  to  pay  the  superintendent.  During 
the  same  period  the  State  College,  under  its  various  aliases,  received  :     . 

From  the  land  grant  fund,  $346,020  00 

From  other  sources  except  State,     ...        93,197  00 

$439,117  00 


232  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

This  does  not  include  the  various  donations  received  direct  from  the 
State  treasury  to  the  amount  of  some  $50,000,  nor  a  floating  debt  of  some 
$40,000,  covered  by  those  indorsed  notes,  making  a  grand  total  of  some 
$830,000,  of  which  amount  the  Eastern  farm  has  received  the  paltry  sum 
of  $r4,53Y  or  about  one  and  three  fourth  per  cent,  of  the  income  of  the 
college.  These  are  the  plain  facts  of  the  case  and  can  be  verified  by 
reference  to  the  college  reports.  It  has  been  a  necessity,  by  contract,  to 
keep  the  Eastern  farm  free  from  debt,  and  I  left  it  on  the  1st  day  of  April, 
1881,  not  only  free  from  incumbrances,  but  with  $808  due  it  from  the  col- 
lege on  the  previous  year's  appropriation.  The  farm  suflTered  in  conse- 
quence of  the  want  of  that  money,  as  it  has  always  suffered  for  a  like 
reason,  but  little  the  college  authorities  care  for  this  as  it  is  their  gain. 
While  their  money  has  always  been  received  promptly  from  the  State 
treasury,  the  amount  set  apart  from  the  yearly  .  ,  by  the  trustees,  has 
been  paid  only  when  the  business  manager  saw  fit,  and  sometimes  not  at  all, 
and  generally  the  superintendent  has  had  to  accept  a  note  for  the  amount 
at  sixty  or  ninety  days,  and  to  run  the  place  entirely  on  his  own  credit, 
and  here  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  :  Let  the  farms,  one  and  all, 
be  sold  out  and  give  us  in  their  place  agricultural  experiment  stations, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  and  remove  entirely 
from  the  control  of  the  State  college. 

W.  R.  SHELMIRE. 

Chalkley  Harvey,  affirmed: 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  Will  you  state,  Mr.  Harvey,  if  you  were  ever  connected  with  this 
institution,  when  you  became  connected  with  it,  what  relations  you  sus- 
tained to  it,  and  what  you  know  about  the  management  of  this  farm — how 
it  was  conducted,  and  so  on  ? 

A.  Well,  I  was  here  at  the  request  of  J.  Lacy  Darlington.  He  requested 
I  should  be  a  member  of  the  committee  from  our  locality,  and  I  was  placed 
here  on  that  committee  because  I  was  selected  as  a  member  from  our 
locality. 

Q.  You  mean  this  advisory  committee  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  the  advisory  committee.  I  was  here  some  two  or  three 
years,  I  believe,  and  during  that  time  the  management  of  the  farm,  so  far 
as  I  know,  gave  entire  satisfaction.  The  agriculturists  of  the  eastern  por- 
tion of  the  State  took  considerable  interest  in  it,  and  we  had  no  diflBculty 
whatever  then  with  the  trustees  of  the  agricultural  college  ;  everything  was 
harmonious,  and  the  things  went  along  smoothl3\  We  supplied  the  farm  with 
mechanical  implements  at  our  own  expense,  by  our  own  free  contributions. 
At  that  time  we  took  some  pains  to  have  club  meetings  and  at  different  times 
we  had  picnics,  when  there  would  be  a  large  number  of  agriculturists  here, 
and  their  families  would  join  in  these  picnics.  In  the  course  of  time  there 
was  a  programme  presented  to  us, purporting  to  come  from  the  State  College. 
Alter  receiving  them,  and  knowing  what  they  were,  we  did  not  feel  that  we 
could  carry  them  out  with  credit  to  ourselves,  and,  instead,  filled  the  pro- 
gramme of  experiments  laid  out  that  had  been  appointed  previous  to  that  by 
the  agriculturists  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  State,  and  which  had  been 
carried  out  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  every  person  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  State.  We  did  not  care  to  have  any  other,  and  the  trustees  of  the 
college  did  not  seem  to  care  how  we  were  getting  along.  They  did  not  visit 
us,  but,  notwithstanding  all  that,  we  never  had  any  hard  feelings  toward 
the  college — at  least  I  don't  know  of  any.  I  only  remember  of  meeting 
the  members  of  the  college  but  once.     That  was  Mr.  Calder  and  Black, 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  233 

and  met  with  them  here  through  an  invitation  extended  to  me  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Harvey,  and,  I  must  say,  we  spent  an  hour  or  more  in  a  very 
pleasant  manner.  So  far  as  Thomas  is  concerned,  I  want  to  say,  while  he 
was  superintendent  of  this  farm  he  did  his  whole  duty.  He  did  what  was 
satisfactory  to  every  person  in  the  community,  and  what  he  did  he  did  in 
a  most  conscientious  manner.  We  found  him  always  willing  to  undertake 
anything  that  the  local  board  of  management  would  advise.  He  asked  us, 
and  all  persons  interested  in  experimental  farming,  to  heartily  cooperate 
with  him.  We  censured  him  sometimes,  in  a  good-natured  waj^  when  we 
thought  he  had  not  done  exactly  his  duty,  but  we  always  thought  that  he 
was  doing  his  utmost  to  make  it  a  success,  and  the  reason  of  its  failure  we 
could  not  make  out,  and  we  do  not  pretend  to  know  or  say  why  it  was  a 
failure. 

Q.  Mr.  Harvey,  you  were  one  of  the  original  board  of  local  managers,  I 
understand. 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  had  3'our  stated  meetings,  had  you,  while  you  were  one  of  the 
members  of  that  board  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  monthly  meetings. 

Q.  You  visited  the  farm  in  the  meantime  often,  I  presume. 

A.  I  think  some  of  the  committee  always  did.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  I  believe  30U  have  stated  the  trustees  did  not  trouble  you  with  their 
presence. 

A.  Xot  at  all.  I  never  had  the  least  correspondence  with  the  trustees 
during  the  whole  time  I  was  connected  with  the  farm. 

Q.  Who  was  secretary  of  this  committee,  or  who  had  charge  of  the  cor- 
respondence, do  you  remember  ? 

A.  I  do  not  remember.  I  think  I  was  secretary  for  one  year ;  I  believe 
for  two,  but  I  have  forgotten.  My  mind  has  been  carried  away,  entirely 
away,  from  it  for  the  past  ten  years,  and  I  have  not  thought  much  about 
it  since.  Then  I  had  no  idea  I  would  be  called  upon  to  testify  before  any 
committee  of  investigation,  or  I  would  have  posted  myself. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  as  to  the  present  condition  of  the  farm  ? 

A.  I  regard  the  farm  very  much  run  down  at  present,  although  I  have 
not  paid  much  attention  to  it  of  late  years.  When  the  farm  was  first 
bought  I  took  a  deep  interest  in  agriculture,  and  especially  did  I  interest 
myself  in  this  farm,  but  after  the  college  authorities  attempted  to  intro- 
duce a  programme  of  experiments  that  was  of.  no  use  to  us,  or  anybody  of 
the  eastern  portion  of  the  State,  my  interest  slackened,  and  I  have  not 
taken  much  interest  in  the  management  of  it  since;  nor  do  I  know  much 
about  it  in  any  way  ;  but,  from  what  I  can  learn  about  the  condition  of  the 
farm  at  present,  I  consider  the  farm  very  much  run  down,  and  everything 
connected  with  it. 

Q.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  the  stock  on  the  farm  is  run  out  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  mean  to  state  that  it  is  run  out. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion,  Mr.  Harvey,  as  to  the  result,  had  the  experi- 
ments which  your  local  committee  adopted  continued  to  have  been  carried 
out? 

A.  I  am  vain  enough  to  suppose  it  would  have  been  a  grand  success 
It  was  a  success  so  far  as  we  were  permitted  to  go  on  with  it,  and  if  we 
had  ever  been  permitted  to  continue  it  until  now  in  the  same  way  in  which 
we  started  out,  the  farming  interests  of  this  section  of  the  State  would  be 
far  ahead  of  what  they  are  now.  I  only  give  this  as  my  opinion,  but  I 
will  venture  to  say  there  are  others  here  who  agree  with  me  on  that  point. 

Q.  Do  3'ou  think  it  would  have  been  eventually  a  financial  success  ? 


234  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  I  do  not  suppose  it  would  bave  been  a  financial  success  so  as  to  be 
self-sustaining,  as  experimental  farms  require  certainly  a  great  many  ex- 
periments to  be  made  whijh  result  in  nothing.  Here  is  where  money 
should  be  expended  in  making  experiments  in  agriculture,  so  the  people 
who  are  carrying  on  agricultural  pursuits  as  a  business  will  have  the  bene- 
fit of  it,  and  thereby  save  money,  by  having  the  experiments  tried  on  the 
farm  kept  for  that  purpose. 

Q.  How  near  do  you  live  to  this  place,  Mr.  Harvey  ? 

A.  I  presume  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile. 

Q.  You  are  a  practical  farmer,  are  you  not  ? 

A.  I  have  been  a  farmer  all  my  life. 

By  Mr.  Hamilton  :  ^ 

Q.  Have  you  ever  been  interfered  with  in  carrying  out  the  experiments 
of  your  own  outside  of  this  programme  adopted  by  the  trustees  of  the 
college  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  know  that  we  have. 

Q.  Hid  you  refuse  to  carry  out  the  printed  programme  furnished  you 
by  the  college  authorities  as  a  board  of  local  management  ? 

A.  I  think  so.     I  think  we  abandoned  them. 

Q.  Why  were  they  abandoned  ? 

A.  If  my  recollection  serves  me  right,  because  we  didn't  think  it  would 
be  at  all  satisfactory  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  this  part  of  the  State. 

Q.  Would  the  programme  you  had  adopted  been  satisfactory  to  the 
western  part  of  the  State,  or  was  it  not  simply  for  the  benefit  of  the 
farmers  in  Chester  county,  for  which  that  programme  was  adopted  ? 

A.  Why,  certainly,  we  wanted  something  that  would  be  of  benefit  to  us 
here  in  our  section  of  the  State,  and  that  was  the  reason  that  the  three 
farms  were  selected  oi'iginally,  and  the  reason  for  their  location  in  the 
eastern,  central,  and  western  part  of  the  State,  that  each  section  of  the 
State  would  have  an  experimental  farm  to  try  such  experiments  that  were 
of  most  interest  in  the  locality  where  the  farm  was  located. 

Q.  After  the  introduction  of  the  programme  prescribed  by  the  board  of 
trustees,  the  programme  adopted  by  your  local  committee  was  carried  on 
also,  was  it  not  ? 

A.  We  continued  to  carry  on  our  programme  until  the  college  authori- 
ties insisted  theirs  had  to  be  also  carried  on.  After  that  our  programme 
continued  to  be  carried  on  to  no  great  extent,  and  it  kept  going  down  until 
it  was  pbandoned  altogether  or  mostly  so,  as  the  means  which  were  appro- 
priated for  experiments  were  all  consumed  by  carrying  on  the  programme 
of  experiments  prescribed  by  the  college  authorities,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  our  programme  had  to  suffer  in  consequence. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  an  account  has  ever  been  kept  of  the  pro- 
gramme of  experiments  prescribed  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college — 
how  much  more  it  cost  than  yours  ? 

A.  Oh !  no,  I  don't  know  anything  about  that. 
By  Mr,  Hamilton  : 

I  wish  to  sa}^  for  the  benefit  of  this  committee  and  those  present,  that 
such  an  account  was  kept,  and  it  was  discovered  that  the  expenses  of  keep- 
ing up  those  experiments  did  not  amount  to  over  one  hundred  dollars. 

Q.  You  thought  the  two  experiments  could  not  be  carried  on  at  the 
same  time  side  by  side,  did  you  not  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  we  felt  it  would  be  useless. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  What  is  the  rate  of  wages  for  a  first  class  farm  hand,  in  this  neigh- 
borhood per  month,  Mr.  Harvey  ?     I  mean  a  fully  competent  hand. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  235 

A.  From  eighteen  to  twenty  dollars,  and  boarded. 

Q.  The  boarding  of  such  a  hand  is  worth  how  much,  living  in  the  family 
and  boarding  at  the  same  table  with  your  own  people  ? 

A.  Oh  !  I  don't  know.     One  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year,  I  suppose. 

Q.  You  would  not  like  to  board  him  for  less  than  sixteen  dollars  a  month, 
would  you  ? 

A.  I  would  not  like  to  board  him  for  less  than  that. 

Q.  That  would  make  his  wages  worth  thirty-five  dollars  a  month,  or  four 
hundred  and  twenty  dollars  a  year. 

A.  Yes,  that  is  about  what  a  good  hand  would  be  worth  on  the  farm 
here  for  a  year.  T  would  be  willing  to  paj'  that  amount,  I  believe,  provided 
he  found  and  boarded  himself. 

N.  J.  Sharpless,  affirmed : 

^Y  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  1  would  like  you  to  go  on  and  state,  Mr.  Sharpless,  about  your  con- 
nection with  this  college  farm,  and  what  you  know  about  it. 

A.  What  I  know  about  the  college  I  can  tell  you  in  a  very  short  time. 
At  the  time  the  committe  of  which  Job  Jackson  was  a  member,  I  was  a 
member  of  the  Legislature,  at  Harrisburg.  He  came  to  me  and  I  drafted 
the  form  of  a  bill,  and,  I  think,  that  bill  contained  a  provision  that  these 
farms  should  be  model  farms,  as  well  as  experimental  farms.  At  that  time 
the  college  was  to  receive  one  third,  and  two  thirds  were  withheld,  to  be 
applied  to  conduct  these  farms.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  feeling  against 
the  college,  and  with  Thomas  H.  Burrows,  who  was  president  of  the  college 
at  the  time,  for  the  reports  showed  he  was  running  it  into  debt.  In  the 
first  place,  they  had  to  erect  an  immense  building  there,  which  left  about 
$80,000  of  debt  on  the  college,  and,  at  the  time,  there  was  a  strong  dispo- 
sition in  the  Legislature  to  leave  the  whole  thing  go  by  the  board.  There 
came  from  the  various  colleges  in  the  State  solicitations  for  this  land-grant 
fund,  that  they  would  provide  a  chair  of  agriculture  in  their  institutions, 
in  order  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress,  to  legally  entitle 
them  to  the  fund.  Mr.  McAllister  came  there,  and  he  and  I  had  frequent 
conversations  about  the  matter.  Mr.  McAllister,  who  was  the  great  friend 
of  the  Agricultural  College,  at  that  time,  and  did  not  want  to  see  this 
mone}',  that  the  college  was  getting,  taken  away  from  it.  He  tried  to  get 
a  greater  appropriation  out  of  this  land  fund  than  it  had  got.  He  did  not 
want  anything  taken  from  his  county,  and,  I  think,  Mr.  Jackson,  a  member 
of  that  county,  was  attempting  to  gain  control  of  this  appropriation  of  two 
thirds  for  the  college,  but  the  majority  of  the  Legislature  was  against  it, 
and  he  fell  in  with  the  matter,  holding  fire  for  a  long  time,  until  it  was 
finally  proposed  that  three  experimental  farms  should  be  established,  to  be 
located  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  and  be  conducted  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Agricultural  College.  Mr.  McAllister,  after  he  was  advised  of  this  plan, 
said  he  was  satisfied.  He  said  we  agree  to  that  proposition.  They  accepted 
the  proposition,  and  I  drafted  a  bill,  which  was  that  there  should  be  estab- 
lished, conducted,  and  maintained  three  experimental  and  model  farms,  and 
I  was  always  under  the  impression  that  the  bill,  passed  at  that  time,  pro- 
vided for  a  model  farm,  as  well  as  an  experimental,  but  it  appears  that  the 
model  part  of  it  had  been  cut  out  of  it  somewheres.  This  was  accepted  b}" 
the  college,  that  they  should  have  this  additional  appropriation,  provided 
they  would  conduct  and  maintain  three  experimental  farms,  one  to  be  lo- 
cated in  the  eastern,  one  in  the  western,  and  one  in  the  central  portions  of 
the  State. 


236  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  You  were  a  member  of  the  local  committee  here  once,  were  you  not, 
Mr.  Sharpless  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  Mr.  Benjamin  Swain,  Milton  Conard,  and  myself. 

Q.  And  of  your  colleagues,  one  only  is  still  living  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  Mr.  Swain  is  still  living,  but  Mr.  Conard  is  dead. 

Q.  When  was  this  ? 

A.  In  the  spring  of  1880. 
By  Mr.  Hamilton : 

Q.  Were  you  present  at  the  time  I  submitted  the  new  programme  ? 

A.  I  was. 

Q.  Do  3'ou  know  whether  it  was  gone  over  item  by  item  ? 

A.  I  remember  very  well  that  it  was  gone  over  item  by  item. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  that  programme  ever  went  into  operation  here  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  know  that. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  What  is  the  value  of  this  property  now,  as  compared  with  what  it 
cost? 

A.  I  do  not  know  what  they  gave  for  it  originally. 

Q.  $175  an  acre — that  was  in  1867. 

A.  I  suppose  that  was  a  fair  price  for  it  at  that  time.  I  would  say  it 
was  a  very  good  price,  although  it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  properties 
in  this  section  of  the  country.  It  had  a  good  orchard  of  apple  trees,  quiie 
a  number  of  pear  trees,  and,  I  think,  a  peach  orchard.  The  fences  were 
all  in  good  condition,  and  I  suppose  it  would  bring  now  $115  or  $120  an 
acre. 

Q.  At  this  time  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  and  it  might,  maybe,  bring  $125. 

Q.  Would  that  be  a  higher  price  than  farms  around  here  would  bring  ? 

A.  Well,  yes,  sir ;  the  farms  around  it  might  not  bring  that  much.  There 
are  a  great  many  attractions  on  this  place  that  you  will  not  find  on  other 
farms.  There  is  a  beautiful  arboretum  down  there  as  you  drive  into  the 
farm  from  the  public  road,  with  quite  a  number  of  flue  specimens  of  our 
trees  in  it,  and  with  a  very  little  attention  and  labor  could  be  made  a  very 
beautiful  place. 

Q.  Do  you  consider  the  property  very  dear  at  the  time  it  was  purchased 
from  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Harvey  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  that  I  could  give  an  opinion  on  it. 

Q.  What  is  your  idea  of  it  in  a  general  way  ? 

A.  I  do  think  it  was  a  pretty  good  price.  It  may  not  have  been  too 
much,  but  I  think  it  was  a  very  good  price. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  failure  of  the  experiments,  Mr.  Sharp- 
less  ? 

A.  Well,  I  think  the  first  series  of  experiments  that  were  conducted 
here  were  of  great  value  to  the  farmers  of  this  locality.  The  first  six  or 
seven  years  of  its  experience  there  was  a  great  deal  of  interest  taken  in  it 
by  the  farmers'  clubs  and  agricultural  societies  in  this  section  of  the  State. 
I  know  I  was  president  of  the  farmers'  club  for  over  seven  years,  and  dur- 
ing that  time  there  was  a  great  deal  of  interest  taken  in  it,  but  after  a 
number  of  j'ears  the  same  experiments  were  tried  over  and  over  again, 
the  people  became  tired  of  it  and  lost  all  interest  in  it. 

Q.  By  reason  of  having  the  same  thing  repeated  over  again  and  again, 
they  became  tired  and  lost  interest  in  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  they  tried  the  same  experiments  so  long  until  there  was 
nothing  more  to  be  learned  by  having  them  reported. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  237 

Q.  Was  not  this  whole  subject  of  experiments  in  agriculture  a  new  thing 
at  the  time  it  was  started  here  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  was  it  not  necessary  to  repeat  a  great  many  of  these  experi- 
ments in  order  to  find  out  if  there  was  any  value  in  them  at  all  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  but  there  was  no  use  in  trying  experiments  for  fifteen 
years  that  the  first  few  years  proved  to  us  that  they  were  of  no  use. 
A  great  many  of  the  experiments  were  abortive,  but  as  soon  as  that  was 
established,  there  was  no  use  in  continuing  them  any  longer,  and  the 
usefulness  of  the  others  was  established  in  much  less  time  than  that,  and 
adopted  and  practiced  by  farmers  for  several  years  and  more,  and  have 
been  abandoned  and  new  ones  adopted  by  practical  farmers,  while  they 
were  still  being  carried  on  as  experiments  on  the  experimental  farm  here. 

Q.  Do  you  consider  the  experiments  that  have  been  tried  here  were  of 
any  value  to  the  farmers  of  the  State  or  more  particularly  to  the  farmers 
of  this  locality  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  think  a  great  many  of  the  experiments  tried  here  have 
been  adopted  by  the  farmers,  and  other  things  have  been  experimented  on 
this  farm  which  were  utterly  worthless,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  has 
proved  of  great  value  to  the  farmers,  as  it  saved  them  the  expense  of  trying 
themselves  experiments,  and  thereby  saved  much  time  and  labor  to  farmers 
in  this  community.  While  I  think  the  farm  has  not  been  made  as  profitable 
to  the  farmers  generally  as  it  might  have  been,  although  we  have,  un- 
doubtedly, received  much  benefit  from  it ;  and  I  do  not  think  there  is  any 
one  who  will  not  think  with  Mr.  Carter.  His  statement  that  theresuits  of 
the  experiments  conducted  by  this  farm  were  of  more  value  than  the  farm 
had  cost.  Yet,  that  may  be  placing  it  a  little  high,  but  I  do  not  know  but 
that  1  almost  agree  with  him  on  that  point.  That  there  have  been  some  of 
the  experiments  on  this  farm  of  great  importance  to  the  farmers,  I  do  not 
think,  can  be  successfully  controverted. 

John  C.  F.  Hickman,  affirmed  and  examined : 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Mr.  Hickman,  will  you  state  when  you  became  connected  with  this 
farm,  what  your  duties  are,  and  whether  any  obstacles  have  been  thrown  in 
your  way  in  the  management  of  it,  and  what  instructions  or  directions 
have  ever  been  given  you  by  the  college  authorities — first  state  when  you 
were  appointed  ? 

A.  Well,  I  presume  the  appointment  took  place  six  months  before  I 
came  here,  and  I  came  here  April  1,  1881. 

Q.  By  whom  were  you  appointed  ? 

A.  By  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college,  or  rather  by  the  executive 
committee  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

Q.  Who  was  the  agent  or  the  business  manager  at  that  time  ? 

A.  Professor  Hamilton  was  business  manager  that  year,  when  I  became 
connected  with  the  farm  in  1881.  Of  course  I  have  only  been  connected 
with  the  farm  for  one  year,  but  I  think,  without  taking  too  much  credit  to 
myself,  that  the  farm  looks  quite  different  from  what  it  did  when  I  came 
here.  When  I  came  here,  as  you  have  already  learned,  I  found  the  farm 
in  a  very  bad  condition.  The  fences  were  down ;  the  gates  were  off  the 
hinges  ;  we  found  no  feed  here  for  the  stock  that  was  on  the  place,  and  that 
had  not  been  sold  yet.  We  were  compelled  to  buy  feed,  but  nothing  to 
buy  it  with  until  I  harvested  my  new  crop  of  grain,  therefore  I  was  com- 
pelled to  buy  feed  until  harvest. 

Q.  What  were  the  relations  that  were  sustained  between  you  and  the 
college  ? 


238  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  So  far  as  the  college  is  connected  with  the  farm,  ever  since  I  have 
been  here  it  has  been  without  a  president,  and  I  was  more  particularly  un- 
der the  control  of  the  board  of  trustees,  through  the  directions  of  the 
business  manager,  than  if  it  would  have  had  a  president,  I  suppose.  I  have 
had  no  difficulty  whatever  with  the  board  of  trustees  since  I  came  here. 
The  appropriation  always  came  at  the  time  it  fell  due,  and  in  the  first  place 
it  came  a  little  ahead  of  time,  but  the  reason  of  that  was,  I  suppose,  because 
I  had  requested  it.  on  account  of  there  being  nothing  here  with  which  to 
run  the  farm  when  I  took  charge  of  it.  As  to  the  instructions  of  running 
the  experimental  plots,  I  am  entirely  under  the  instructions  of  the  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture — Professor  Jordan.  Professor  Jordan,  of  the  State 
College,  directs  the  management  of  the  experimental  plots  exclusively,  but 
the  general  management  of  the  farm  is  left  largely  to  own  judgment. 
However,  I  usuall3*  ask  his  advice  in  the  matter,  because  I  have  had  no 
very  large  practical  experience  as  to  some  things  connected  with  farming. 

During  the  winter  we  experimented  as  to  the  best  manner  of  feeding 
stock.  We  took,  for  instance,  corn  meal  and  cotton  seed,  and  fed  it  in  dif- 
ferent proportions,  the  object  of  which  was  to  determine  the  proportionate 
value  of  corn  meal  mixed  with  cotton  seed.  We  also  experimented  in 
feeding  ha_y  that  had  been  cut  at  diff'erent  periois  of  the  season.  For  in- 
stance, timothy  hay  that  was  cut  in  June,  when  it  was  just  coming  into 
blossom,  and  then  a  second  crop,  fifteen  or  twenty  days  later,  when  the 
seed  was  about  ripening.  We  did  this  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  at  what 
time  timothy  hay  should  be  cut  and  at  the  same  time  retain  the  greatest 
amount  of  nutriment.  This  was  carried  on  quite  carefully  from  about  the 
1st  of  September  on  through  the  winter  months.  In  carrying  on  these 
experiments  we  were  very  careful  as  to  the  quantities  we  fed,  taking  great 
care  that  we  got  the  quantity  every  time,  and  in  order  to  do  this  we  had  to 
weigh  out  the  amount  we  fed  every  evening ;  and  you  only  need  to  try  it 
to  find  out  how  much  work  is  connected  with  it.  It  made  very  close  work 
for  us  all  winter. 

As  to  the  experiments  that  were  carried  on  here  last  season,  they  were 
not  very  successful,  on  account  of  the  long  continuous  drought  of  last 
summer,  and  consequently  were  not  of  much  value. 

Q.  These  experiments  were  made  by  you  on  these  plots,  were  they  ? 

A.  We  have  overthrown  the  old  plot  system  and  have  adopted  new  ones. 
The  plots,  originally,  were  placed  on  the  north  side  of  the  farm,  but  we 
have  changed  them  from  where  they  were  formerly  and  made  them  smaller. 
Formerly  the  plots  were  one  eighth  of  an  acre,  now  they  are  only  one 
twentieth  of  an  acre,  consequently  this  year  we  have  just  doubled  the  num- 
ber of  experiments  that  we  have  here  before. 

Q.  How  about  the  rotation  of  crops  ? 

A.  The  rotation  of  crops  was  about  the  same  as  those  that  W.  K.  Shel- 
mire  has  spoken  of  I  had  to  keep  up  the  rotation  of  crops  in  that  way 
according  to  ray  contract,  which  was  similar  to  the  one  made  with  him. 

Q.  Did  you  have  any  authority  to  sell  off  the  stock  ? 

A.  Not  unless  by  the  permission  of  the  Professor  of  Agriculture  or  the 
board  of  trustees.  According  to  the  contract  I  could  not  sell  any  live 
stock,  grain,  or  produce  of  any  kind  without  first  obtaining  permission  to 
do  so,  but  fruit  and  things  of  a  perishable  nature  I  could  sell. 

Q.  Did  you  do  anything  with  fruit  last  year  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  suppose  we  had  at  least  three  hundred  bushels  of  pears 
here  last  year,  which  were  sold  and  an  account  kept  of  them,  which  can  be 
seen  by  referring  to  the  books.  T  do  not  think  we  lost  over  ten  bushels 
out  of  the  whole  crop. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  839 

Q.  How  does  the  income  compare  with  the  expenditures  within  tie  past 
year? 

A.  As  you  understood  before  that  we  had  a  great  deal  of  expense  in  the 
fore  part  of  the  year  in  having  to  buy  feed  for  our  stock,  but,  taking  all 
that  into  consideration,  we  came  out,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  forty  dollars 
ahead.  We  also  made  some  improvements  on  the  farm  ;  we  bought  a  new 
drill  and  fanning-mill.  These  implements  are  all  of  the  best  kind,  as  we 
tried  two  or  three  kinds  of  drill  last  fall,  I  suppose  there  was  half  a 
dozen  kinds  of  drills  here ;  they  were  left  here  with  the  privilege  of  trying 
them,  and  we  selected  those  that  gave  us  the  best  satisfaction. 

Q.  Did  you  take  a  drill  with  a  fertilizer  attachment  ? 

A.  We  took  a  drill  with  the  fertilizer  attachment ;  it  was  the  MacSherry 
drill. 

Q.  Forced  feed  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  forced  feed.     We  also  got  a  model  roller. 

Q.  Is  it  iron  ? 

A.  Iron.  sir.  I  wish  to  say  something  about  this  dilapidation  of  the 
barn,  which  has  been  a  bone  of  contention  in  this  neighborhood  for  some 
time,  and  which  has  been  much  talked  of  through  the  local  papers,  &c.,  &c., 
is  a  very  small  matter.  The  great  repairing  that  the  bam  needed,  I,  with 
two  hands,  put  in  in  two  days  after  the  timbers  were  ready.  There  is  no 
farmer  in  the  community  that  would  not  have  fixed  everything,  and  have 
made  all  the  repairs  that  were  necessary  to  have  been  made,  in  the  same 
length  of  time,  if  the  farmer  living  on  the  place  owned  the  property  him- 
self. The  main  difficulty,  I  think,  is  this :  that  things  have  been  allowed 
to  go  down,  little  by  little,  year  after  year,  until  they  reached  the  condition 
they  were  in  when  I  came  here.  After  I  came  here  we  put  up  new  spout- 
ing on  the  barn,  so  the  water  is  now  carried  off  without  any  damage  to  the 
buildings,  and  here  and  there  a  board  was  loose,  which  a  few  minutes' work 
would  give  it  quite  a  different  appearance.  Now,  little  matters  of  that  kind 
had  been  continuously  going  on,  which,  if  attended  to  at  the  proper  time, 
would  not  have  been  noticed  scarcely  by  the  most  careful  observer,  but 
which,  if  neglected  and  left  go  on  from  year  to  j^ear,  would  soon  bring  the 
most  careless  to  notice  it,  and  consequently  a  report  of  the  deterioration 
of  the  farm.  If  these  little  matters — or  what  certainly  must  have  been 
little  matters  at  first — would  have  been  properly  looked  after  when  they 
were  first  noticed,  all  this  report  of  the  great  dilapidation  of  the  farm  could 
have  been  obviated.  These  little  matters  were  evidently  not  looked  after 
very  much  before  I  came  here,  as  I  learned  from  some  of  the  hands  that 
had  been  working  on  the  farm  the  year  before  I  came  here.  I  worked  two 
of  the  hands  that  had  been  here  before,  and  I  would  not  work  them  again 
for  another  year,  notwithstanding  I  could  get  them  at  a  very  low  rate  of 
compensation.  When  I  have  men  working  for  me  on  the  farm,  I  want  them 
to  get  to  work  before  seven  o'clock ;  1  want  them  to  get  to  work  before 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  These  men  would  very  often  not  get  to  their 
work  until  half-past  seven  o'clock,  and  sometimes  not  until  eight.  They 
would  generally  quit  at  eleven  or  half-past  eleven  for  dinner,  and  get  to 
work  again  by  half-past  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  then  stop 
at  six  in  the  evening  for  the  day.  And  on  Saturdays  they  would  stop  at 
four  or  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  To  work  hours  of  that  kind  on  a 
farm  will  not  pt\y  ;  you  are  losing  too  much  valuable  time,  as  anybody  who 
has  ever  worked  on  a  farm  very  well  knows.  The  old  adage,  "■  To  make 
hay  while  the  sun  shines,"  applies  more  particularly  to  farming,  I  think, 
than  to  any  other  vocation.  When  you  have  the  weather  to  do  the  work 
in  you  must  be  up  and  doing,  or  else  the  grass  will  grow  under  your  feet. 


240  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No,  18, 

Q.  How  were  the  fences  when  you  came  here, — were  they  in  good  or 
rather  bad  condition  ? 

A.  Well,  I  should  say  they  were  in  rather  bad  condition  ;  they  had  been 
very  much  neglected,  indeed.  They  were  left  go  until  you  could  not  get 
along  without  fixing  them,  and  then  they  were  apparentlj'^  only  patched  up 
in  order  to  get  along  only  for  the  time  being.  Patched  up  in  that  kind  of 
a  wa3^  they  would  not  last  any  length  of  time  whatever.  If  they  had  been 
taken  when  they  required  very  little  repairing — and  the  time  when  a  thrifty 
farmer  would  have  repaired  his  fences — it  would  have  saved  a  great  deal 
of  work  and  the  farm  would  not  have  had  such  a  ragged  appearance  as 
what  the  people  in  Chester  county  have  reported  it  to  have. 

Q.  Do  you  know  how  many  men,  Mr.  Shelmire,  worked  on  the  farm  ? 

A.  I  only  know  what  I  got  from  the  books. 

Q.  I  mean  men  that  done  general  farm  work. 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  for  nine  months  of  the  last  year  that  he  was  here  he  had 
four  besides  himself;  for  the  balance  of  that  j'^ear  I  was  here  myself; 
when  from  that  time  on  I  done  the  work  with  two  men  besides  myself, 
and  have  been  doing  it  ever  since  with  that  number  of  hands. 

Q.  What  kind  of  rotation  did  you  observe  in  the  succession  of  crops  ? 

A.  Why,  the  rotation  of  the  crops  are  about  the  same  as  farmers  gen- 
erally follow.  We  first  plow  down  the  sod  for  corn,  then  the  following 
spring  we  put  out  the  same  ground  in  oats  ;  if  we  do  not  put  it  in  oats  we 
fallow  it  and  put  it  out  in  wheat  in  succeeding  fall,  as  we  also  put  out  the 
oats  stubbles  in  wheat  in  the  fall ;  and  generally  after  one,  sometimes  two, 
crops  of  wheat  we  get  it  in  grass  again,  when  it  remains  in  grass  for  about 
two  or  three  years,  then  it  is  either  put  out  in  corn  again  or  it  is  fallowed 
by  turning  under  the  sod.  That  is  about  the  wa,y  the  rotation  of  crops 
are  observed  here  on  this  farm  nov^. 

Q.  About  how  many  acres  of  the  difierent  cereals  do  you  have  out,  or 
put  out,  in  one  season  ? 

A.  1  have  about  eleven  acres  of  corn  out  now,  twelve  acres  of  wheat, 
and,  I  suppose,  about  ten  of  oats.  I  left  about  six  acres  of  corn  stalks 
unplowed  that  I  did  not  care  to  put  in  oats ;  we  will  fallow  that  during 
the  summer,  the  early  part  of  the  summer  or  latter  part  of  the  spring, 
and  put  it  out  in  wheat  in  the  fall. 

Q.  Did  you  manure  the  soil  anv  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes ;  we  turn  everything  to  manure  that  we  can,  on  the  place. 
But  there  was  not  very  much  manure  left  on  the  place  here  during  the  last 
year,  as  you  have  already  heard  that  about  all  the  hay  had  been  sold  when  I 
came  here  in  January,  1880,  and  some  of  the  stock  also  been  sold  off;  so, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  there  was  nothing  left  here  to  make  manure  out  of. 
Consequently,  up  to  this  time  we  have  not  manured  very  much.  The  ma- 
nure we  made  last  winter  we  will  not  use  until  this  fall.  Since  I  came 
here  we  have  got  a  manure  tank  which  catches  all  the  waste  water  that 
would  naturally  run  or  drain  from  the  manure  yard,  which  is  very  valu- 
able, and  of  which  we  catch  a  great  deal  these  wet  days.  We  have  adopted 
the  system  of  silo  since  I  came  here,  and  we  do  not  turn  out  any  stock  on 
the  place  to  pasture ;  in  consequence  of  which  we  made  considerable  ma- 
nure last  summer ;  and,  taking  that  with  what  we  made  last  winter,  we 
have  a  very  large  quantity  of  manure  to  use  this  coming  fall. 

Q.  Did  you  fatten  any  cattle  for  sale  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  the  experiments  I  told  you  about  a  little  while  ago  were 
made  upon  cattle  that  we  were  feeding  for  market. 

Q,.  Have  you  sold  those  cattle  yet  ? 

A.  Well,  yes,  sir,  they  are  sold  ;  there  were  only  three  of  them. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  241 

Q.  What  did  you  sell  them  at  ? 

A.  T  sold  them  at  six  and  one  half  cents. 

Q.  What  did  you  pay  for  them  in  the  fall  ? 

A.  I  bought  them  at  four  and  three  quarters. 

Q.  What  did  they  weigh  when  you  bought  them  ? 

A.  They  averaged  about  one  thousand  and  forty  pounds,  I  think  ;  some- 
thing like  that.    Some  of  them  are  weighing  now  fourteen  hundred  pounds. 

Q.  What  did  your  experiment  in  feeding  them  in  the  manner  in  which 
you  did  determine  ? 

A.  The  whole  matter  is  here  in  printed  form.  We  did  not  have  anything 
very  satisfactory  from  the  experiments  in  feeding  this  year,  but  we  intend 
to  repeat  it  and  will  have  better  facilities  for  carrying  out  our  plans  than 
what  we  had  last  winter.  You  will  find  a  full  statemetit  of  all  the  experi- 
ments tried  and  the  results  of  them  in  print.  I  made  out  a  full  statement 
of  them ;  that  report  has  been  printed  b}'  the  college  authorities. 

Q.  Did  you  trj'  the  soiling  system  last  summer,  too  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  the  average  production  of  wheat,  rye,  oats,  and  corn,  per 
acre  on  this  farm  ? 

A.  Well,  the  wheat  and  rye  that  I  harvested  last  summer  were  sown 
under  Mr.  Shelmire's  administration,  and  I  do  not  think  that  the  ground 
was  put  in  near  as  good  a  condition  for  sowing  as  it  might  have  been. 
Nine  or  ten  acres  of  wheat  were  put  into  the  ground  without  plowing  at 
all,  but  were  simply  run  over  with  a  double-shovel  iron  plow.  Just  stirred 
up  in  that  way  and  then  the  wheat  drilled  in.  It  was  never  harrowed  nor 
rolled  ;  in  consequence  of  that  kind  of  farming  there  was  not  more  than 
about  seventy  bushels  of  wheat  on  those  nine  or  ten  acres. 

Q.  Were  you  about  this  locality  any  time  during  the  time  that  Mr. 
Shelmire  was  getting  ready  that  ground  to  sow,  or  at  the  time  he  sowed 
it? 

A.  I  was  not  here  until  in  January,  1881.  I  know  that  this  is  only  hear- 
say, but  it  was  told  me  by  one  of  my  men  who  had  also  worked  for  him 
the  year  previous  to  my  going  there,  and  who  also  helped  to  do  some  of 
this  very  work. 

Q.  Was  it  afterwards  confirmed  by  your  own  observation  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  it  was.  By  the  appearance  of  the  farm  when  we  came  here 
it  looked  very  much  as  if  it  had  been  done  in  that  way.  The  surroundings 
of  the  place  would  indicate  that  the  person  who  had  been  on  the  place  was 
undoubtedly  very  slovenly,  as  everything  had  the  appearance  of  it. 

Q.  What  facts  have  you  to  sustain  such  an  assertion  of  that  kind  ? 

A.  From  the  simple  fact  that  any  man  that  would  allow  the  fences  to 
go  down  in  the  way  in  which  I  found  them,  would  be  very  strong  evidence 
to  my  mind  that  he  was  certainly  very  careless  and  did  not  care  much  how 
things  were  going  on  on  the  place.  The  fences  would  hardly  turn  an  animal 
of  any  kind,  and  pigs  could  go  any  place  all  over  the  farm  without  any 
trouble.  The  hedge  fence  at  the  upper  part  of  the  orchard  was  ten  or 
twelve  feet  high.  It  looked  as  though  it  had  not  been  pruned  for  many 
years.  These  are  a  few  of  the  instances  of  which  I  just  now  spoke,  and 
these,  I  think,  are  sufficient  to  sustain,  to  some  degree  at  least,  the  asser- 
tion which  I  have  just  made,  that  the  appearances  of  the  farm  generally 
would  indicate  that  the  person  who  had  had  the  management  of  it  was  a 
verjf  slovenly  manager ;  and  then  the  farm  had  the  appearance  also  of 
having  had  everything  taken  off  of  it  without  putting  anything  on  it  in 
the  shape  of  manure,  &c.,  &c.  It  looked  very  much  as  if  the  farm  had 
been,  or  everything  taken  oft"  that  they  could  get  off. 
16— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


242  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  How  about  the  machinery  on  the  place  ? — was  it  broken  up  and  out 
of  repair  ? — was  it  in  such  a  condition  so  as  you  could  use  it  ? 

A.  The  truth  of  it  is,  there  was  very  little  machinery  here  when  I  came. 
If  you  will  take  the  time  to  go  over  the  farm,  you  will  find  that  you  can 
see  for  yourselves  all  that  I  have  stated  is  true,  and,  while  we  have  made 
many  improvements  during  the  past  year,  you  can  still  see  where  there  is 
a  great  deal  more  to  do  and  fix  up.  There  is  another  thing  of  which  I 
wish  to  speak  here,  and  that  is  in  reference  to  the  plows  you  have  heard 
mentioned  here  by  Mr.  Harvey.  Of  all  the  plows  that  were  left  here  when 
he  quit  the  farm,  there  is  not  one  of  those  plows  that  has  the  original 
device  on  it.  Now,  in  this  one  particular,  there  is  evidence  of  great  sloth- 
fulness.  This  would  occur  in  this  way  :  When  a  device,  for  instance,  would 
break,  they  would  not  go  and  have  it  repaired  at  the  first  opportunity  of 
doing  so,  but  would  go  to  another  plow  and  take  a  device  off  of  it,  and 
would  use  it  until  the  thing  was  also  broken,  or  until  it  was  worn  out. 
This  is  the  way  they  worked  it,  until  there  is  not  a  plow  on  the  place 
that  has  on  the  device  that  belonged  to  it  originally.  This,  as  you  well 
know,  could  all  have  been  avoided  by  having  taken  the  broken  parts  and 
having  had  them  mended  at  the  proper  time,  and  in  that  way  each  piece  of 
machinery  would  have  all  the  pieces  that  properly  belonged  to  it.  But  the 
former  superintendents  of  this  farm  went  it  very  much  on  the  principle  of 
"  robbing  Peter  to  pay  Paul." 

Q.  How  about  the  threshing  machines  and  corn  shellers  ? 

A.  We  got  the  corn  sheller  repaired  that  had  been  here  in  use,  but  the 
threshing  had  been  hired  done,  I  presume,  for  it  was  sold,  it  was  said,  be- 
cause it  was  worn  out,  and  they  had  not  used  it  for  several  years  prior  to 
that ;  but  it  was  said  to  have  been  sold  at  a  sacrifice — that  it  was  worth 
forty  dollars,  at  least,  when  it  was  sold.  The  same  way  with  the  grain 
drill ;  I  heard  it  reported  was  sold  at  five  dollars  ;  but  1  was  told  by  one 
of  the  workmen  that  it  could  have  been  fixed  up  so  as  to  have  run  all  right 
for  some  time  to  come  at  a  very  little  expense. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  the  farm  implements  on  the  place  were  loaned 
out  among  the  neighbors  much — do  you  know  anything  about  that  ? — or 
whether  they  were  hired  out  and  the  superintendents  received  pay  for  such 
hire  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  they  were  hired  out — no,  sir ;  at  least  I  do  not  think 
that  that  was  the  case  during  the  time  that  Mr.  Shellmire  was  here,  as  I 
understand  that  he  would  not,  during  the  last  year  that  he  was  here,  loan 
at  all. 

Q.  You  have  stated  that  the  manner  in  which  the  farm  was  managed  last 
year,  and  the  experiments  conducted  as  directed  by  the  professor  of  agri- 
culture of  the  State  College — that  by  following  his  instructions,  notwith- 
standing that  you  had  to  buy  feed  when  you  came  here,  and  made  repairs 
and  improvements  of  various  kinds,  and  also  purchased  some  farming 
implements — after  doing  all  this,  ihere  was  a  balance  of  forty  dollars  in 
-favor  of  the  farm  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  ' 

Q.  Do  you  have  about  the  same  amount  of  acres  out  in  grain  this  3'ear, 
including  corn,  oats,  wheat,  and  rye,  as  you  had  last  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  just  about  the  same. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  us  to  how  the  income  will  compare  with  ex- 
penditures for  this  year,  taking  last  year  as  the  basis  ? 

A.  I  think,  taking  last  year  as  the  basis,  when  the  farm  was  able  to  main- 
itain  itself  with  the  small  appropriation  from  the  college,  and  the  numer- 
ous extra  expenses  it  had  to  contend  with,  and  it  came  out  forty  dollars 


Leo.  Doc"!  Pennsylvania  Statk  College.  243 

ahead,  I  think  the  balance  this  j^ear  will  be  very  much  greater  in  favor  of 
the  farm.  This  year  we  will  not  have  several  of  the  things  to  contend  with 
that  we  had  last. 

Q.  Then,  what  would  there  be  in  the  way  to  run  this  farm  successfully 
without  it  being  a  drag  on  the  college  ? 

A.  There  is  nothing  to  hinder  it.  We  could  run  this  farm  successfully 
and  have  a  few  experiments  going  on  all  the  time  without  any  assistance 
from  the  college  at  all,  I  believe. 

Q.  Have  you  experiment  plots  that  you  are  operating  now  ? 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  many  have  you  ? 

A.  Twenty-two  in  oats  and  twenty-two  in  com. 

Q.  About  how  many  plots  do  you  say,  in  your  opinion,  could  be  run 
successfully  on  this  farm  ? 

A.  That  is  a  matter  on  which  I  could  hardlj'  give  an  opinion,  because  I 
have  never  given  it  any  consideration.  But  I  should  think  that  the  number 
of  experiments  which  we  are  carrying  on  now  would  be  about  it.  I  would 
say  twenty-two  of  wheat,  twenty-two  of  oats,  and  twent3'-two  of  corn.  I 
think  that  that  would  be  a  sufficient  number ;  that  would  not  require  more 
than  about  six  acres  of  ground,  and  that  number  of  acres,  I  should  say, 
could  be  given  all  the  attention  the  experiments  would  require,  and  at  the 
same  time  have  enough  of  time  for  the  other  part  of  the  farm. 

Q.  You  are  a  graduate  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  I  believe  ? 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  take  the  course  in  agriculture  ? 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  The  four  years'  course  ? 

A.  I  was  four  years  in  the  college  department  and  one  year  in  the  pre- 
paratory. 

Q.  Is  your  knowledge  of  agriculture  based  entirely  upon  information 
you  got  from  the  text-books  which  you  studied  at  the  college,  or  did  3-ou 
have  other  sources  of  information  on  the  subject  besides  ? 

A.  Nothing  more  than  what  I  got  from  practical  farming  before  I  ever 
went  to  school. 

Q.  I  notice  in  plowing  in  and  around  the  trees  in  the  orchard  you  did 
not  plow  up  close  to  the  trees  ? 

A.  No,  sir,  I  did  not,  but  I  propose  to  dig  that  up  with  a  mattock.  I 
could  not  plow  any  nearer  than  that  this  spring  when  I  plowed  it,  and  I 
have  not  had  time  yet  to  finish  it  up.  This  brings  to  my  mind  another 
matter  that  has  been  left  go  down  very  much.  The  orchards  have  not  been 
kept  up  at  all,  as  they  might  have  been.  Wherever  a  tree  has  died,  the 
roots  or  dead  tree  was  dug  up  and  its  place  left  vacant,  consequently  there 
are  a  good  many  trees  that  are  missing,  and  the  rows  look  very  thin  at 
places  here  and  there  through  the  orchard.  A  great  manj-  of  these  vacant 
places  I  have  filled  by  replanting  trees,  and  I  intend  to  continue  doing  so 
until  all  the  places  where  trees  were  are  filled  up.  I  have  already  planted 
twenty-five  pear  trees  since  I  came  here,  and  if  it  had  been  properly  at- 
tended to  as  the  trees  died  off  there  would  have  been  no  necessity  of  hav- 
ing to  plant  twenty-five  trees  at  one  time,  but  it  could  have  been  kept  up 
by  planting  one  or  two  trees  every  season.  I  cite  this  also  as  neglect  on 
the  part  of  former  superintendents  of  this  farm. 
Q.  Havt  you  made  experiments  of  small  fruits  ? 
A.  No,  sir,  I  have  not. 

Q.  Where  did  you  dispose  of  the  various  crops  raised  on  the  place — the 
wheat,  rye,  oats,  corn,  hay,  &c.  ? 


244  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  The  wheat  is  the  only  crop  of  which  I  had  any  to  sell ;  the  hay,  corn, 
and  oats  are  all  fed  on  the  farm,  and  we  will  continue  to  feed  all  the  coarse 
grain  on  the  place,  as  well  as  all  the  hay,  for  we  intend  to  keep  up  our  ex- 
periments of  fattening  cattle. 

Q.  Where  do  you  sell  at  ? 

A.  Right  here  in  West  Grove  market.  The  prices  here  are  about  as 
good  as  they  are  in  Philadelphia,  after  taking  it  there  and  deducting  the 
freight. 

Q.  Do  you  have  discretionary  power  to  sell  the  crops,  such  as  corn, 
wheat,  &c.  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir — except  what  is  reserved  to  feed  and  fatten  cattle.  I  can 
sell  no  stock  nor  farming  implements,  or  anything  of  that  kind,  without 
first  obtaining  permission  from  the  board  of  trustees  or  professor  of  agri- 
culture of  the  State  College. 

Q.  Will  you  explain  about  the  farm  accounts — what  amount  of  money 
is  received,  how  it  is  expended,  how  you  keep  your  accounts,  and  how  the 
matter  is  looked  into  by  others  ? 

A.  Well,  as  to  the  financial  department  of  this  farm,  it  is  simple  enough, 
I  think,  for  any  one  to  understand  by  referring  to  the  books.  The  board 
of  trustees  of  the  college,  in  the  first  place,  set  apart  a  certain  sum  of 
money  to  be  expended  on  the  Eastern  experimental  farm.  That  money  is 
paid  twice  a  year,  in  two  installments,  one  of  which  is  paid  in  February  and 
the  other  in  August  of  each  year.  That  money,  after  it  comes  here,  is 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  superintendent  of  the  farm,  and  the  expenditure 
of  it  is  left  to  his  judgment  and  discretion.  The  superintendent's  salary 
is  paid  out  of  this  sum,  and  the  agreement  binds  him  (the  superintendent) 
not  to  expend  or  pay  out  any  of  it  without  taking  a  receipt  for  it,  and  that 
receipt  should  show  exactly  what  the  money  has  been  paid  out  for.  These 
receipts  he  will  keep,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year,  when  the  auditors  will 
come  around,  he  will  have  them  as  vouchers  to  satisfy  the  auditors  that  he 
has  been  acting  in  good  faith,  and  also  for  the  auditors  to  see  for  what  the 
money  has  been  expended.  The  books  will  show  that  this  money  is  gen- 
erally expended  for  labor,  farming  implements,  and  improvements  on  the 
farm. 

As  we  have  to  take  receipts  for  every  cent  of  money  expended,  the 
accounts  in  the  books  and  the  receipts  must  correspond  with  each  other, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  this  board  of  auditors,  who  are  appointed  at  the  close 
of  every  year,  to  see  that  they  do  so  correspond.  These  receipts  or  vouch- 
ers are  a  check  against  any  false  entries  that  might  be  made  in  the  books, 
from  which  you  can  see  that  there  is  no  chance  whatever  to  peculate  on  the 
part  of  the  superintendent,  for  he  must  have  a  receipt  to  show  for  every- 
thing. 

Q.  These  vouchers  are  bills  of  purchase,  with  receipts  attached  in  all 
cases  where  the  bills  have  been  paid  ? 

A,  Yes,  sir. 

Q,  The  bills  state  what  the  money  has  been  expended  for,  and  the  re- 
ceipts show  that  the  bills  have  been  paid  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  take  receipts  for  labor  performed  on  the  farm,  as  you  pay 
for  it  ? 

A.  I  took  receipts  for  every  cent  expended  on  the  farm,  whether  it  was 
for  labor,  farming  implements,  or  improvements  made  on  the  farm,  or  for 
anything  else  from  which  the  farm  received  the  benefit. 

Q.  What  have  the  b.oard  of  trustees  to  show  for  the  number  of  bushels 
of  grain  sold ;  do  they  merely  take  the  report  of  the  superintendent,  of  the 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  Istate  College.  245 

number  of  bushels  of  grain  raised,  and  out  of  that  so  many  bushels  sold, 
and  so  many  bushels  used — how  is  it  about  that  ? 

A,  That  is  left  entirely  to  our  own  honor.  The  superintendent  of  the 
farm  keeps  an  account  of  the  grain  raised,  and  also  of  the  number  of 
bushels  sold,  and  at  what  price  per  bushel. 

Q.  Are  you  required  to  give  any  security  for  the  faithful  performance 
of  these  duties  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  am  required  to  give  a  bond  with  real  estate  security. 

Q.  In  what  amount  ? 

A.  In  the  sum  of  $1,000,  dollars. 

Q.  How  much  monej-  comes  into  your  hands  at  any  one  time? 

A.  I  think  the  largest  amount  that  came  into  my  hands  during  the  last 
year,  was  eight  hundred  dollars  at  one  time,  and  six  hundred  at  another. 
The  books  will  show  how  much,  as  I  charged  myself  with  it  as  soon  as  I 
received  it. 

Q.  Will  you  tell  us  something  about  Mr.  Shelmire's  accounts  and 
vouchers — especially  as  to  the  amount  of  stuflF  that  he  sold,  and  at  what 
time  he  sold  it? 

A.  As  to  the  stuff  sold  by  Mr.  Shelmire,  I  cannot  tell  the  amount  he 
received  for  each  item — the  items  were  not  carried  forward  in  the  entry. 
I  was  one  of  the  committee  who  audited  his  accounts  for  the  last  year  he 
was  here.  We  did  not  know  the  amount  of  money  received  by  him  the 
previous  year,  from  his  books.  So  the  only  thing  that  was  done  by  the 
committee  was  to  look  over  his  credits,  and  compare  them  with  his 
vouchers.     We  found  that  part  of  his  account  all  right. 

Q,  Do  not  the  books  show  the  amount  of  income  of  the  farm  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  the  amount  of  income  of  the  farm ;  you  could  not 
tell  that  without  you  would  go  into  every  detail  of  the  whole  year ;  you 
have  to  find  out  how  much  wheat  he  had  sold,  how  much  oats,  and  so  on ; 
he  had  not  carried  them  forward. 

Q.  Who  beside  yourself  were  members  of  that  committee  ? 

A.  Thomas  J.  Edge  and  Mr.  William  Gawthrop. 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Shelmire  sworn  when  he  appeared  before  you  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  he  was  not. 

Q.  Did  3'ou  have  a  scene  before  the  committee,  at  that  time? 

A.  No,  sir ;  not  on  this  occasion,  but  I  believe  there  was,  previous  to  this 
meeting  of  the  committee. 

Q.  With  regard  to  these  bills  you  examined,  did  you  find  that  he  had 
bills  and  receipts  for  all  these  credits,  for  which  he  claims  on  these  entries  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  we  examined  all  of  the  items,  and  found  that  he  had 
vouchers  for  all  of  them. 

Q.  What  was  the  largest  amount  for  expenditure  that  he  had  ? 

A.  My  recollection  is  that  it  was  for  labor.  And  that  was  between 
seven  and  eight  hundred  dollars.  That  is  the  amount  he  had  paid  farm 
hands,  and  he  had  receipts  for  that  amount  also. 

O.  Was  that  outside  of  his  own  salary  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  that  or  did  it  not  include  labor  in  the  house  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  it  did  not. 

Q.  What  were  the  gross  proceeds  of  the  farm  for  the  last  year  of  Mr. 
Shelmire's  administration  ? 

A.  $1,756  56  ;  that  is,  the  entire  proceeds  including  the  cash  received; 
that  is  only  for  the  nine  months  of  the  year,  because  I  had  to  put  in  three 
months  of  Mr.  Shelmire's  time. 

Q.  These  nine  months  extended  from  what  time  to  what  time  ? 


246  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  From  the  1st  of  April,  to  the  first  of  January. 

Q.  Now,  what  were  the  expenses  for  labor,  during  the  nine  months  that 
you  were  here  ? 

A.  Well,  from  the  1st  of  April,  1881,  to  the  1st  of  January,  1882,  that 
is  for  the  first  nine  months  of  my  time,  the  entire  expenditure  was  $890. 
That  includes  $450  of  my  salary,  which  would  leave  a  balance  of  $440  for 
labor ;  that  would  make  the  expenses  for  the  whole  year,  taking  that  as 
the  basis,  about  $1,153  ;  then  deducting  my  salary  it  would  leave  $553  for 
labor.     I  only  got  $600  for  the  first  year. 

Q.  Did  the  hands  board  themselves  ? 

A.  One  of  the  hands  boards  with  me,  but  the  other  one  does  not. 

Q.  Did  he  pay  you  a  consideration  for  his  board  ? 

A.  Well,  yes ;  the  way  we  hired  them  they  did.  I  was  to  pay  him  so 
much  a  month  and  board  him. 

Q.  Did  you  employ  in  addition  to  that  sometimes  day  laborers  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  we  did  in  harvest,  and  occasionally  have  a  man  work  by 
the  day  in  the  garden  for  a  few  days. 

Q.  is  that  also  included  in  this  $1,153  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  do  you  pay  a  man  that  works  for  you  by  the  month  ? 

A.  One  of  these  men  I  had  hired  to  work  by  the  month,  and  the  other 
by  the  day.  I  pay  the  man  who  works  by  the  day  $1  a  da}',  and  then  he 
boards  himself,  and  he  had  in  addition  to  that  the  use  of  a  garden  and  a 
potato  patch.     The  other  man  is  getting  $14  a  month  and  his  boarding. 

Q.  About  how  much  does  it  cost  to  board  him  ? 

A.  Upon  close  observation  I  find  it  costs  about  $2.t5  a  week  to  board 
him  on  the  farm  with  the  rest  of  the  family. 

Q.  This  property  is  assesed  with  real  real  estate  taxes,  I  presume,  as  all 
otlier  properties  are  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  they  tax  personal  property,  too  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  they  do. 

Q.  On  what  valuation  do  you  pay  taxes  ? 

A.  For  the  year  1882,  the  real  estate  was  valued  at  $9,400  and  the  per- 
sonal property  was  valued  at  $195. 

Q.  What  is  the  rate  of  taxation  ? 

A.  For  county  purposes,  it  is  three  mills ;  for  State  tax,  it  is  three  mills 
on  personal  property  only.  The  taxes  last  year  amounted  to  $110.41,  that 
included,  besides  State  and  county,  road  and  school  taxes.  In  1881,  the 
real  estate  was  valued  at  $9,400  and  the  personal  property  at  $260;  that 
was  before  Mr.  Shelmire  had  disposed  of  these  various  articles,  of  which 
you  have  been  already  informed. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  as  the  township  assessments  for  road  and  school 
taxes  ;  do  you  think  that  the  local  authorities  here,  in  levying  those  taxes, 
show  any  discrimination  in  favor  or  against  this  farm  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  there  has  been  any  partiality  shown. 

Q.  Do  you  think  this  farm  could  be  run  as  a  practical  experimental  farm, 
and  be  made  to  pay  for  its  own  running  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  it  could  not,  not  in  experiments  alone. 

Q.  What  appropriation  did  you  have  last  year  ? 

A,  The  first  year  it  was  $;iOO,  and  this  it  is  $900. 

On  motion,  the  committee,  at  half  past  eight,  p.  m.,  adjourned  to  meet 
at  the  St.  Cloud  Hotel,  in  Philadelphia,  to-morrow  at  ten,  a.  m. 


Leg,  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  24T 

Sub-committee  met.  Present — Messrs.  Mylin,  Alexander,  Hall,  and  Rob- 
erts. George  Blight,  ex-trustee,  was  sworn  and  examined.  Professor 
Shortlidge,  ex-president,  was  affirmed  and  examined.  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge 
affirmed  and  examined.  Mr.  Alfred  Sharpless  affirmed  and  examined.  Mr. 
Hickman  recalled,  and  Allison  0.  Smith,  a  graduate,  was  sworn  and  ex- 
amined. Adjourned  to  meet  at  Bellefonte,  Pa.,  on  Monday,  p.  m.,  June 
26,  1882. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL,. 
Secretary. 


State  College  Investigating  Committee  met  at  St.  Cloud  hotel,  Philadel- 
phia, May  13,  1882.  at  10,  a.  m. 

Members  present — Senator  Mylin,  president.  Representative  Hall,  secre- 
tary, Senator  Alexander  and  Representative  Roberts  and  Sergeant-at-Arms 
of  Senate  Mc  Conn  ell. 

George  Blight,  sworn : 

By  Senator  Mylin  : 

Q.  Do  you  live  in  this  vicinity,  Mr.  Blight  ? 

A.  I  live  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

Q.  Were  you  ever  connected,  in  any  waj',  with  the  State  College  of  Penn- 
sylvania ? 

A.  I  was  a  trustee  for  a  period  of  three  years. 

Q.  During  what  time  ? 

A.  Commenced  in  1867  and  resigned  in  1870. 

Q.  Have  you,  or  have  you  not,  Mr.  Blight,  taken  considerable  interest  in 
the  experimental  farm  in  Chester  county,  at  West  Grove  ? 

A.  1  have,  from  the  time  it  was  purchased. 

Q.  Now,  will  you  go  on  and  state,  in  your  own  way,  Mr.  Blight,  your, 
knowledge  of  the  transactions  between  this  farm  and  the  college — just  give 
us  your  experience  as  a  trustee  ? 

A.  At  the  time  of  my  election  as  trustee,  the  farm  had  been  already  pur- 
chased, but  not  paid  for.  I  was  elected  during  the  interval  of  the  purchase 
of  the  farm  and  the  settlement  or  payment  of  it.  If  my  recollection  serves 
me  right,  $45,000  was  the  sum  obtained  from  the  Government,  which  was 
to  be  appropriated  to  the  purchasing  of  three  experimental  farms,  one  to 
be  situated  in  the  western  portion  of  the  State,  one  in  the  central,  and  one 
in  the  eastern  portion.  We  advertized  in  various  papers  and  otherwise  in- 
vited sellers  of  farm  property,  that  is,  announced  the  intention  of  the  trus- 
tees to  purchase  these  farms,  but  there  were  very  few  responses  to  the  com- 
mittee's solicitations.  We  went  out  to  Indiana  county,  and  looked  at  Mr. 
White's  farm  there,  which,  I  think,  was  the  only  one  we  were  invited  to  look 
at  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  another  in  Chester  county.  This 
farm  of  Thomas  Harvey  was  the  only  one  the  board  thought  was  suitable 
for  an  experimental  farm.  And  in  Centre  county,  General  Irvin  presented 
two  hundred  acres,  and  afterwards  it  was  thought  not  to  be  large  enough, 
and  two  hundred  acres  more  were  purchased.  I  was  the  youngest  member 
on  the  board  of  trustees  at  the  time.  The  other  members  were  H.  N.  Mc- 
Allister, Judge  Watts,  Morris  Ellis — all  gentlemen  of  the  highest  integrity 
and  honest  purpose,  and,  I  presume,  more  faithful  trustees  could  not  have 
been  found  in  the  State.  And  in  buying  these  farms,  the  trustees  were 
obliged  to  purchase  what  was  offered  them.  I  do  not  know  why  it  was, 
but  there  were  very  few  farms  offered.     But  that  seemed  to  be  the  expe- 


248  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

rience  of  the  board.  But  to  come  down  to  the  Eastern  experimental  farm. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  hesitation  on  the  part  of  the  board  in  the  selection 
of  Thomas  Harvey's  farm  as  the  farm  best  adapted  as  an  experimental  farm 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  And  after  the  purchase  of  it,  everything 
went  on  pretty  much  as  you  heard  it  detailed  yesterday  by  Thomas  Harvey 
and  the  other  person  who  testified.  Mr.  Harvey  was  put  in  possession  of 
the  farm.  He  was  thought  to  be  a  proper  man  to  be  put  there,  and  he  went 
on  to  it  and  carried  it  on  for  three  }■  ears.  You  have  already  his  three  years' 
experience  there,  and  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  go  over  that  part  again, 
only  I  will  say  he  carried  it  on  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  the  trustees 
and  all  concerned.  He  had  the  farm  there  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
and  made  many  improvements  in  various  ways.  Everything  had  a  new 
and  tidy  appearance  about  the  place.  The  trees — the  fruit  trees  were  all 
in  a  healthy  and  thrifty  condition.  A  large  peach  orchard,  in  full  bearing. 
1  suppose  covered  not  less  than  fifteen  acres,  maybe  more,  which  was  in 
full  bearing.  There  was  a  very  handsome  hedge  all  around  the  farm.  The 
farm,  when  Thomas  Harvey  was  there,  was  as  attractive  a  one  as  j^ou  could 
well  find,  and  we  were  all  delighted  with  it.  Just  before  Thomas  Harvey 
withdrew  from  its  superintendency,  sickness  in  my  family  called  me  away 
to  Europe,  and  as,  upon  inquiry,  found  I  might  be  detained  in  Europe  for 
an  indefinite  period  of  time,  I  thought  1  had  better  resign  my  trusteeship, 
which  I  did ;  and  that  closed  mj'  connection  with  the  farm  as  a  member  of 
the  board  of  trustees.  But,  as  a  visitor,  I  visited  the  farm  for  a  consider- 
able length  of  time  afterwards.  That  was  when  I  had  returned  from  Eu- 
rope, and  John  I.  Carter  was  there,  and,  of  course,  being  much  interested 
in  the  matter  of  experimental  farming,  I  took  notice  how  things  were  man- 
aged, and  how  diflflcult  it  was  to  get  money  at  the  proper  times,  and  how 
diflflcult  it  was  to  pay  hands,  &c.  I  believe  that  is  about  all  that  I  can  tes- 
tify to  in  reference  to  this  farm  that  you  have  not  already  heard. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

What  do  you  attribute  the  alleged  failure  of  this  farm  to  originally  ? 

A.  In  my  opinion,  and  the  opinion  of  those  with  whom  I  have  had  con- 
versations is,  that  the  principal  reason  was  the  locality.  That  it  is  found  to 
be  in  a  too  remote  part  of  the  State,  and  very  inaccessible  to  those  who 
were  interested  in  agriculture  not  living  there.  Therefore,  those  living  at 
any  great  distance  from  the  farm  lost  sight  of  its  institution,  and  those  in 
its  immediate  vicinity  were  alone  interested.  In  my  visits  to  this  farm  I 
was  obliged  to  stay  the  entire  day.  Why,  to  get  there,  I  would  have  to 
leave  in  the  seven  o'clock  train  in  the  morning,  and  could  not  return  until 
near  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  consequently  it  took  an  entire  day  to 
make  a  short  visit  to  the  farm  and  return ;  and  in  order  to  make  this  seven 
o'clock  train  I  had  to  leave  my  home  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  conse- 
quently my  interest  became  lessened.  I  could  not  give  my  time  up  for 
more  than  an  hour  a  day  to  a  matter  of  this  kind.  While  1  was  still  much 
interested  in  the  success  of  it,  but  not  being  able  to  spend  a  whole  day  in 
visiting  the  farm  as  often  as  I  should  like  to  have  spent  an  hour  or  so,  I 
lost  interest  in  the  farm  on  account  of  its  remoteness. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

You  are  speaking  of  the  Eastern  experimental  farm,  are  vou  ? 
By  Mr.  Blight : 

The  Eastern  alone,  sir.     I  made  only  one  visit  to  the  Western  farm. 

The  second  I'eason  why  I  think  this  farm  is  a  failure  is  the  want  of  adequate 

means.     In  fact,  they  were  cramped  in  every  respect.     It  seemed  the  money 

that  belonged  to  these  farms  properly  could  not  be  had  at  the  proper  times. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  S49 

You  think  the  trustees  took  care  of  the  college  in  preference  to  or  at 
the  expense  of  the  experimental  farms  ? 

A.  That  was  the  impression  I  formed — that  was  the  opinion  I  formed — 
from  all  that  I  could  learn  and  hear.     The  amount  appropriated  did  not 
warrant  such  an  extensive  application,  that  the  amount  of  outlay  required 
by  the  college  and  farms  was  greater  than  the  appropriations,  and  that  the 
farms  or  somfthing  was  obliged  to  suffer  ;  and  it  appears  to  have  fallen  on 
the  farms.     The^'  did  not  have  the  means  to  carry  on  all  successfully.     The 
college  alone  required  all  the  money  they  received  from  the  State  in  order 
to  make  it  successful. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Do  you  know  why  the  corporation  purchased  so  much  land  in  Centre 
county — did  3'ou  hear  any  discussion  among  the  members  of  the  board  of 
trustees  why  they  purchased  so  man}'  acres  of  land  in  Centre  county — 
what  was  the  reason  Centre  count}'  was  selected  ? 
By  Mr.  Blight : 
So  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  the  reason  why  Centre  county  was  selected. 
General  Irvin  said  he  would  give  two  hundred  acres  of  land  to  the  trustees 
if  they  would  establish  the  farm  for  the  central  portion  of  the  State  in 
Centre  county,  which  they  considered  a  very  fair  proposition  and  a  reason- 
able thing  for  them  to  do  ;  and  after  it  was  decided  to  locate  the  farm  there 
it  was  considered  insufficient,  and  two  hundred  acres  more  were  purchased 
from  General  Irvin,  making  in  all  four  hundred  acres. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 
How  long  were  you  connected  with  the  college,  Mr.  Blight  ? 

By  Mr.  Blight : 
Somewhere  near  three  years — 1861-8-9. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
I  presume,  Mr.  Blight,  you  visited  the  Western  and  Central  experimental 
farms  frequentlv  during  these  three  years  you  were  trustee  ? 
By  Mr.  Blight : 
Yes,  sir :  that  is,  the  Eastern  experimental  farm. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
I  mean  the  Western  and  Central  experimental  farms,  Mr.  Blight. 

By  Mr.  Blight : 
Yes,  sir ;  I  do  not  know  that  I  visited  those  farms  but  once,  and  that 
was  as  trustee,  and  the  farm  here  in  Chester  county  I  only  visited  once  as 
trustee,  but  then  I  visited  it  frequently  from  the  general  interest  I  took 
in  the  experiments  that  were  being  made.  I  visited  the  farms  but  once 
officially. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
Did  any  of  the  other  trustees  visit  this  farm  officially  ? 

By  Mr.  Blight : 
Mr.  Mc  Alister  was  here  once  during  my  term  of  trustee,  and  that  is  the 
time  I  refer  to  as  having  visited  it  officially. 

Professor  Joseph  Shortlidge,  afirmed: 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Mr.  Shortlidge,  we  would  like  to  have  you  give  us  the  history  of  your 
connection  with  the  Pennsylvania  State  College — the  time  you  went  there, 
how  you  came  to  go  there,  how  long  you  staid  there,  and  what  transpired 
during  that  time,  and  in  what  capacity  you  acted  while  there. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
In  April,  1880,  or  thereabouts.  General  Beaver  telegraphed  me  from 
Bellefonte  that  he  wanted  to  see  me  in  Philadelphia,  at  the  Girard  House. 


250  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

I  went  into  the  city  in  response  to  the  request  and  the  telegram,  and  I 
found  him  there  in  company  with  Judge  Orvis,  at  the  Girard  House.  Gen- 
eral Beaver  said  upon  the  recommendation  of  some  friends  they  had  come 
to  see  me  in  reference  to  the  presidency  of  the  State  College ;  that  they 
needed  a  president,  and  wanted  to  know  if  1  would  accept  the  position  of 
president  of  the  State  College.  The  matter  was  talked  over  for  some 
time,  when  I  asked  them  what  salary  they  gave,  when  I  think  they  told  me 
what  the3'  had  been  giving.  I  then  told  them  I  wouldn't  take  it  for  that. 
Then  they  proposed  to  raise  the  salary  a  little,  and  made  big  promises  for 
the  future,  as  to  what  would  be  done.  After  they  had  agreed  to  do  better 
than  what  they  at  first  intimated,  and  made  such  faithful  promises  for  the 
future,  I  accepted  the  position,  and  I  was  appointed  to  the  position,  I  be- 
lieve, on  the  27th  of  May,  1880 ;  I  think  it  was  the  27th  of  May,  1880. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

To  take  effect  when — right  away  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

From  June  1,  I  believe.  Three  or  four  days  after  my  appoiniment  I 
commenced  my  duties  as  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.  I 
went  to  the  college  after  I  had  accepted  the  appointment,  but  before  I 
took  charge,  and  I  found  things  in  a  very  bad  condition.  After  I  had 
made  arrangements  to  sell  out  my  personal  property  and  real  estate,  and 
upon  going  there  found  things  in  such  bad  condition  that  I  was  out  of 
heart,  and  felt  very  much  discouraged  with  what  the  situation  and  its  sur- 
roundings presented,  and  what  I  knew  would  have  to  be  overcome  and 
suppressed  before  I  would  meet  with  any  success,  I  came  home  and  told 
my  friends  that  I  felt  very  much  sorry  I  had  taken  the  position,  and  had 
a  great  mind  to  abandon  it.  But  I  had  the  bills  out  for  the  sale  of  my 
property,  and,  after  consulting  with  some  of  my  friends,  I  concluded  I 
would  try  it.  I  went  to  the  college  under  these  circumstances.  I  found 
a  great  deal  of  disorder.  The  first  night  I  went  there  I  found  the  stu- 
dents were  out  late  at  night,  making  all  kinds  of  noise,  and  the  greatest 
confusion  and  disorder  prevailed.  They  rang  the  college  bell.  They 
began  ringing  the  bell  at  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  I  believe  it 
rang  from  that  on  till  twelve  and  one  o'clock.  I  heard  them  pounding 
through  the  building,  and  doing  everything  in  their  power  to  make  a  noise. 
I  then  and  there  got  sick  of  it,  and,  as  I  sat  there  listening  to  the  noise 
and  tumult,  resting  upon  my  elbows,  I  resolved  that  I  would  not  remain. 
I  had  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  resign  the  next  morning.  I  informed 
some  of  my  friends  that  I  had  made  a  resolution  not  to  go  back  to  the 
college  ;  that  I  was  sick  of  the  situation  there,  and  I  could  not  put  up 
with  the  outrageous  conduct  I  witnessed  last  night  by  the  students.  I 
had  a  talk  with  some  members  of  the  faculty.  I  talked  with  Professor 
Smith  about  it,  and  he  told  me  that  he  admitted  affairs  were  in  a  bad  con- 
dition, but  he  thought  if  I  would  agree  to  remain,  and  he  insisted  on  me 
to  remain,  that  I  could  overcome  disorder  and  bring  order  out  of  chaos. 
I  went  back  to  the  college,  and  saw  Judge  Orvis,  one  of  the  trustees, 
there,  and  I  told  him  I  would  not  remain  at  the  college  unless  the}^  made 
certain  promises  to  me.  I  told  him  it  would  be  necessary  to  expel  about 
one  half  the  students,  in  order  to  bring  the  college  into  order,  from  what  I 
had  seen  of  the  students  the  night  before,  and  the  knowledge  I  had  of 
them.  He  8aid"Expel  the  students,  as  many  as  you  like  ;  and,  if  necessary, 
we  will  change  every  member  of  the  faculty."  Then,  when  the  board  of 
trustees  next  met,  I  had  them  pass  the  resolution  you  heard  read  yester- 
day by  Mr.  Shelmire.     I  was  informed,  too,  that  the  disorder  and  con- 


Leg.  Docl  Pennsylvania  State  College.  251 

fusion  I  had  heard  on  the  first  night  I  had  stayed  there  was  in  ratification 
of  the  event  of  Dr.  Calder  leaving  the  institution. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Why  did  the  board  pass  a  resolution  of  that  kind  ?     Do  you  think  it 
was  a  prudent  act  on  the  part  of  the  board  of  trustees  to  place  so  much 
power  in  the  hands  of  one  man  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

It  was  intimated  to  me  before  I  took  charge  of  the  college  that  Pro- 
fessor McKee  had  been  very  largely  instrumental  in  having  ousted  Dr. 
Calder,  and  from  what  I  had  heard  1  knew,  in  order  to  run  the  college  suc- 
cessfully, it  was  necessary  to  have  a  resolution  of  that  kind  passed  ;  and  I 
declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  college  unless  they  would  give 
me  more  authority  than  what  Dr.  Calder  had.  I  was  not  going  to  enter 
upon  my  duties  there  as  president  of  that  college  with  my  hands  tied  as 
Dr.  Calder  had,  and  that  was  the  reason  this  resolution  was  passed.  I  en- 
tered upon  mj^  duties  knowing  that  this  division  was  there.  Victor  Pio- 
lette,  also  one  of  the  board  of  trustees,  said  to  me  :  "  If  you  get  some  of 
the  members  of  the  faculty  down  on  you  you  will  have  trouble.  They 
fought  Dr.  Calder  while  he  was  there  until  he  was  obliged  to  resign,  and 
they  will  tomahawk  you  about  in  the  same  way  if  they  get  down  on  you, 
or  you  get  into  any  dispute  with  them.  He  told  me  about  Professor  McKee — 
the  kind  of  a  man  he  was — and  he  called  him  a  pretty  hard  name,  iising  an 
oath  with  it,  and  told  me  he  would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  him  if  he 
were  me  than  what  I  had  to.  Before  I  was  there' a  month  I  found  out  that 
both  Professor  McKee  and  Professor  Hamilton  were  attempting  the  same 
thing  with  me  that  they  had  with  Dr.  Calder ;  they  called  on  me  and  told 
me  I  was  not  doing  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  that  if  I  did  not  do  so  and 
so  I  would  not  get  along  with  the  students  nor  the  faculty.  The  verj-  first 
statement  they  made  to  me  convinced  me  that  Dr.  Calder  was  a  much  in- 
jured man,  although  I  had  not  heard  a  single  statement  from  them  against 
him.  I  knew  what  they  had  done  for  Dr.  Calder,  and  they  were  trying 
the  same  game  on  me.  So  I  checked  it  by  telling  Professor  McKee,  I 
think :  "  Gentlemen,  I  intend  to  be  president  of  this  college  or  nothing,  and 
you  may  just  as  well  know  it  now  as  after  awhile."  I  soon  found  out  they 
were  the  particular  friends  of  General  Beaver,  and  that  these  men  had  been 
opposed  to  Dr.  Calder,  and  I  found  that  they  were  working  with  Beaver 
against  me.  When  the  college  opened  for  the  fall  term,  the  boys  com- 
menced the  same  system  of  order  I  had  seen  there  when  I  was  there  on  a 
visit.  I  had  taken  about  one  fourth  of  the  students  with  me.  I  think  I 
am  correct  in  that  statement.  The  students  that  had  been  there  commenced 
to  abuse  the  students  I  took  there.  One  of  them  said  that  he  would  go 
home  if  they  did  not  stop  hazing  him.  They  began  hazing  the  students  I 
brought  there.  I  took  in  the  situation  at  once,  and  saw  who  was  at  the 
bottom  of  all  this.  Hazing  was  carried  on  very  generally,  and  I  saw  it  had 
to  be  stopped,  and  I  was  determined  to  put  an  end  to  it  if  I  had  to  use 
violent  measures  to  do  it.  The  students  had  no  regard  for  anything,  not 
even  for  chapel  services.  Soon  after  the  term  commenced,  the  first  Sunday, 
we  had  services  in  the  chapel,  which  the  students  were  required  to  attend. 
There  was  a  great  deal  of  confusion  and  noise.  I  rebuked  the  students  for 
this  bad  conduct,  which  seemed  to  have  the  desired  effect  at  first.  But 
soon  I  heard  a  thump,  which  I  thought  I  knew  where  it  came  from  ;  but  in 
order  to  be  sure  of  the  person  who  was  doing  it  I  left  it  go  by  unnoticed, 
apparently,  but  I  said  nothing,  for  the  purpose  to  see  if  I  was  correct  in 
the  person  I  thought  had  made  the  noise.  I  knew  it  would  be  repeated 
soon,  and  I  kept  a  lookout  to  see  if  I  was  correct ;  and  I  had  not  long  to 


252  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

wait  until  it  was  repeated.  I  then  got  right  up  in  the  midst  of  services, 
and,  in  pretty  strong  language,  told  him  that  if  the  noise  was  repeated  I 
would  eject  the  party,  for  I  knew  who  it  was,  although  I  did  not  use  stronger 
language  than  the  necessity  of  the  case  demanded.  I  would  not  have  been 
required  to  use  that  kind  of  language  any  other  place,  but  there  it  was 
necessary,  for  they  were  nothing  more  than  a  half  civilized  set  of  students. 
They  were  a  little  better  than  barbarians,  and  the  strongest  language  you 
could  use  was  none  too  severe  for  those  students.  I  called  a  meeting  of 
the  faculty  the  next  morning,  and  the  student  was  expelled.  They  still 
continued  to  haze  the  new  students,  and  I  saw  that  they  M^ould  drive  away 
some  of  the  best  students  at  the  college  if  it  was  not  stopped,  and  stop  they 
must.  I  told  them  if  they  continued  to  haze  them,  I  will  haze  you — but 
the  more  I  said  seemed  only  to  add  fuel  to  the  flames — after  what  I  had 
said  about  hazing  to  these  students ;  of  course  I  then  began  in  earnest  to 
suppress  it,  but  the  students  didn't  seem  to  care.  These  boys,  I  was  told, 
had  the  sympathy  of  Professor  McKee  and  other  members  of  the  faculty. 
Professor  Hamilton  was  also  in  sympathy  with  the  boys,  so  I  was  told.  I 
may  have  been  incorrectly  informed,  but  I  do  not  think  so,  from  what  I 
saw  by  my  own  observation. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Was  this  during  the  fall  term  of  1880  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  fall  term.  About  August  2'Ith  the  term 
began,  and  this  may  have-  been  three  or  four  weeks  after  the  term  com- 
menced. I  heard  that  Professor  McKee  was  conniving  at  hazing  the  stu- 
dents. I  heard  that  from  one  of  the  members  of  the  faculty.  I  heard  the 
same  of  Professor  Hamilton,  although  I  do  not  think  he  was  quite  as  ac- 
tive in  it  as  Professor  McKee.  On  Sunday  night  I  understood  that  some 
of  the  students  had  been  to  Professor  McKee's  house.  I  wasn't  a  witness 
to  this,  but  I  believe  it  to  be  so  from  what  I  know  followed.  On  the  Mon- 
day night  following  they  nailed  up  the  doors,  went  up  stairs  and  got  horns 
and  blew  them — got  a  hold  of  the  bell-rope  and  rung  the  bell,  and  made 
every  conceivable  kind  of  noise.  They  raised  "  cain  "  there  until  about 
eleven  o'clock.  I  got  up  and  went  to  the  college.  I  admit  I  took  a  heavy 
hickory  cane  with  me,  in  order  to  give  them  to  understand  that  I  meant 
business.  I  went  up  there  and  I  could  not  get  in.  The  doors  were  all 
nailed  up.  I  went  over  to  Professor  McKee's  house.  When  I  got  there 
1  found  he  was  over  at  the  college.  Mrs.  McKee  said  to  me :  "  Indeed, 
you  had  better  not  go  over,  for  you  don't  know  what  they  will  do  to  you." 
I  went  over  to  the  college,  and  I  believe,  on  my  way  there,  I  was  told  that 
Professor  McKee  was  over  there  by  another  person  also,  and  I  also  saw 
there  were  no  lights  in  the  building.  The  lights  had  all  been  put  out.  I 
went  over,  and  I  found  Professors  McKee  and  Heston  were  there.  I  asked 
them  some  questions.  They  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  me  that  they  had  more 
experience  than  I,  and  gave  me  to  understand  I  was  yet  a  novice  in  that 
part  of  the  county  with  their  students.  They  began  to  tell  me  that  I  could 
not  get  in  to  where  the  students  were,  for  the  doors  were  all  nailed  up. 
I  said  we  had  to  get  in  here  and  find  out  who  these  rioters  were,  and  I 
asked  them  for  an  ax  to  cut  down  the  doors.  I  got  the  ax,  but  after- 
wards we  thought  the  better  plan  was  not  to  cut  down  the  doors,  and  Pro- 
fessor McKee  suggested  that  we  had  better  go  home  and  let  the  boys 
alone,  and  investigate  the  matter  the  next  day.  Then  I  prevailed  on  him 
he  should  assist  me  in  patting  down  the  noise  :  I  prevailed  with  him  that 
the  noise  should  be  put  down.  Before  we  left  the  college  that  night,  Pro- 
fessor McKee  began  to  condemn  and  abuse  me,  and  told  me  that  the  noise 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  253 

had  never  been  put  down,  "  and  you  can't" — meaning  me — "can't  put  it 
down,  either."  I  found  out  he  was  going  to  be  against  me,  so  I  turned  to 
Professor  Heston,  I  thought  he  was  in  s3-mpathy  with  me  at  first  when  I 
talked  to  him,  but  he  thought  we  could  do  nothing  that  night,  that  the 
boys  had  the  best  of  us.  We  left  the  college  then,  and  I  said, ''  I  will  catch 
these  fellows  to-morrow  morning."  I  don't  know  whether  they  found  out 
I  was  in  the  building  that  night  or  not.  I  went  around  and  saw  all  the 
professors  the  next  morning  before  breakfast ;  told  them  I  was  going  to 
hold  a  meeting  of  the  faculty  the  first  thing  that  morning,  and  told  them 
also  what  the  purpose  of  it  wt„s  to  be.  When  I  got  to  Professor  McKee's 
house  he  began  to  abuse  me ;  he  began  before  I  had  time  to  tell  him  what 
I  intended  to  do.  The  way  in  which  he  talked  hurt  me  very  much,  and  it 
wasn't  a  very  promising  outlook  towards  the  successful  management  of  the 
college.  This  grieved  me,  for  I  had  heard  that  the  college  had  a  very  bad 
name  before  I  took  charge  of  it,  and  I  thought  that  it  might  not  be  as  bad 
as  it  was  reported,  and  under  proper  management  it  would  soon  have  a 
better  name,  if  not  as  good  as  any  other  college.  When  the  faculty  met 
and  I  came  in,  I  found  McKee  abusing  me,  using  very  insulting  language ; 
I  turned  around  and  said  to  him — and  I  wasn't  in  a  very  good  humor  at 
this  time — I  says  :  "  I  know  who  my  friends  are  here,  and  I  want  j'ou  to 
understand  that  I  am  president  of  this  faculty,  and  I  will  conduct  this 
investigation  here  to  suit  myself,  and  T  do  not  want  any  interference  on 
your  part," — meaning  Professor  McKee.  That  may  not  have  been  the 
precise  language  I  used  but  it  was  something  similar  to  that.  That 
silenced  him.  That  may  haA^e  been  a  pretty  rough  thing  to  do,  when  he 
was  a  member  of  the  faculty  and  vice-president  of  the  college  ;  but  some- 
times you  have  to  resort  to  pretty  severe  means  in  order  to  do  what  is 
right.  We  then  went  on  with  the  investigation,  inquiring  into  the  conduct 
of  these  boys,  and  by  half-past  eleven  we  had  one  boy  expelled  and  there 
was  a  terrible  outlook  for  a  number  of  the  other  boys.  The  boys  saw 
I  wasn't  going  to  back  down  in  the  matter,  so  they  sent  a  committee  to  me 
to  intercede  for  the  transgressors,  but  I  sa3^s  to  them,  "  Gentlemen,  you 
will  find  that  I  will  be  as  firm  as  a  rock  about  this  thing."  They  left  me 
with  very  little  encouragement,  however.  I  filed  their  reasons,  and  I  went 
around  and  talked  to  them.  Well,  the  result  of  our  investigation  was  we 
expelled  one  boy,  and  some  of  these  boj's  I  sent  home  to  their  parents, 
which  I  thought  was  the  best  thing  to  do,  and  not  expel  them  permanently. 
We  finally  got  the  thing  started  again,  and  it  was  not  long  until  I  found  out 
that  Professor  Smith  and  McKee  were  in  correspondence  with  the  members 
of  the  board  of  trustees  without  my  knowledge.  They  had  been  placed  by  the 
resolution  you  have  already  heard,  by  the  board  of  trustees,  as  subordinates 
to  the  president  of  the  college,  and  by  being  in  correspondence  with  the 
board  of  trustees  they  were  transcending  the  scope  of  their  authority.  I 
thought  they  were  in  correspondence  with  some  of  the  members  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  and  later  developments  convinced  me  of  it.  I  dis- 
covered soon  after  I  got  there  that  the  opposition  on  the  part  of  Professors 
Smith  and  Hamilton  arose  from  jealousy.  I  found  out  that  Professor 
Hamilton  had  been  an  applicant  for  the  position  I  was  then  filling,  and 
Professor  Smith,  here,  had  been  another  applicant.  I  found  out  he  had 
been  visiting  members  of  the  board  of  trustees.  He  went  over  to  Clear- 
field to  see  Mr.  Gordon,  one  of  the  trustees,  to  see  what  influence  he  could 
have  with  him  against  me.  I  do  not  think  he  met  with  very  much  success, 
though.  Then  he  went  down  to  Williamsport,to  see  Mayor  Starkweather. 
I  don't  know  the  conversation,  but  I  know  what  the  visits  were  made  for.; 
they  were  made  to  influence  the  board  of  trustees  against  me,  for  the  pur- 


254  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

pose  of  having  me  removed.  So  I  found  out  tbat  things  were  getting  a 
little  warm,  and  I  was  determined  that  I  would  watch  the  spies.  While 
Smith  was  doing  his  part,  Professors  Hamilton  and  McKee  were  carrying 
complaints  to  Beaver,  who  were  both  favorites  of  the  General's.  We  got 
the  college  started  again ,  and  were  getting  along  some  better,  but  pretty 
soon  alter  this  some  of  the  students  went  off  to  a  Granger  picnic,  s(5me 
eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  college.  I  was  in  favor  of  their  going.  I 
thought  it  would  be  a  perfectl}^  safe  place  for  them  to  go  to.  I  think  there 
was  sixteen  of  them  over  there,  and  the  most  of  them  got  drunk  on  their 
way  back.  One  student,  by  the  name  of  Potter,  told  me  all  about  it.  I 
didn't  ask  him  anything  about  it,  but  he  just  told  me  of  his  own  accord, 
and  what  prompted  him  to  do  it  I  could  never  conceive.  There  was  some 
young  boys,  who  were  under  twenty-one  years  of  age,  had  got  drunk,  and 
he  told  me  who  had  sold  the  whiskey,  so  I  concluded  to  stop  that  kind 
of  business ;  so  I  called  the  faculty  together,  and  the  faculty  thought  the 
proper  thing  for  me  to  do  was  to  have  the  men  arrested  who  had  sold  the 
whiskey  to  these  boys,  which  I  did  at  once,  and  I  had  this  fellow  Potter 
summoned  to  give  evidence,  and,  when  I  took  him  down  into  court,  he 
denied  everything  he  had  said  to  me. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

What  was  Mr.  Potter's  first  name,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ?    I  would  like  you  to 
state  it,  if  you  please. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  do  not  know.     I  cannot  tell  you.     I  know  his  name  was  Potter. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Do  you  know  if  it  was  Roger  L.  Potter  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  do  not  know.  It  may  be  it  was.  It  may  have  been  something  like 
that. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Well,  his  name  was  Roger  L.  Potter.     I  am  familliar  with  the  facts  of 
the  case,  and  know  that  was  the  student's  name. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Well,  I  will  not  dispute  that  with  you ;  it  is  quite  likely  that  was  his 
name.  However,  I  said  to  him,  when  we  came  out,  "  You  will  pay  up  for 
that ;  you  are  either  telling  a  lie  here  before  this  squire,  or  you  told  me 
a  falsehood  when  you  first  mentioned  this  thing  to  me."  1  think  I  said  he 
would  be  expelled.  This  was  also  carried  down  to  General  Beaver.  I  saw 
there  were  spies  in  the  camp  all  the  time.  Everything  was  carried  down  to 
Beaver,  and  whenever  I  met  Beaver  he  would  have  some  fault  to  find  with  me ; 
and  I  soon  saw  that  General  Beaver's  sympathies  were  with  my  enemies 
and  not  with  me ;  but  after  Potter  had  given  me  a  clue  to  where  the  stu- 
dents got  their  whisk3%  I  soon  found  another  student  who  could  be  relied 
on  to  give  evidence  against  the  liquor  sellers ;  and  as  we  had  the  man  ar- 
rested again,  and  this  time  he  was  bound  over  to  appear  at  court,  we  took 
him  to  Bellefonte  to  have  him  tried  and  had  students  under  age  summoned 
to  give  in  evidence  that  they  had  obtained  whisky  from  this  man  and  paid 
for  it.  Mr.  Alexander  was  the  man's  lawyer,  and  was  concerned  against 
the  college  and  me,  (he  is  here  now  and  knows  whether  I  am  not  correct 
in  my  statement  that  there  was  such  a  case  tried  where  he  was  on  the 
other  side.)  Well,  we  had  the  strongest  kind  of  evidence,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  prevent  the  man  from  being  convicted,  had  there  been  fair  play. 
General  Beaver  was  my  attorney,  and  he  did  not  challenge  a  single  jury- 
man on  the  jury,  which  he  ought  to  have  done.  Mr.  Alexander  knows  if 
I  am  correct  or  not.     There  was  on  that  jury  a  bar-tender,  whose  sympa- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  255 

thy,  as  a  matter  of  course,  would  be  with  the  whisky  seller,  and  there  was 
a  hostler  of  the  man  who  was  beincj  tried  on  the  jury,  a  man  identified 
with  the  hotel  where  the  boys  got  the  liquor,  and  two  that  visited  the 
hotel  of  this  man,  and  supposed  drank  there — I  was  informed  they  did. 
These  men  were  on  that  jury.  Beaver  never  challenged  a  single  man  that 
was  called  on  that  jury.  He  gave  the  case  away  because  he  refused  or 
neglected  to  challenge  those  men  on  the  jury,  and  the  result  was  we  had 
the  cost  to  pay  ;  although  we  did  some  good,  even  if  we  did  lose  the  case, 
we  stopped  the  sale  of  liquor  to  students — the  public  sale  of  it  to  the  stu- 
dents of  the  college — but  the  conduct  of  the  students  whenever  the}'  went 
away  from  the  college  was  very  bad.  They  would  sometimes,  yes,  gener- 
ally, all  get  drunk ;  and,  taking  them  as  a  class  of  students,  they  were 
very  near  the  worst  I  had  ever  saw.  As  a  matter  of  course,  we  had  some 
very  honorable  students  there.  I  am  willing  to  admit  that,  but  the  gener- 
ality of  them  were  rough  and  disorderly.  Well,  then  there  was  a  case  oc- 
curred a  short  time  after  that  when  one  of  the  professors  was  standing  up 
in  the  chapel  to  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible — we  always  had  a  chapter  read 
in  the  Bible  and  prayers  every  morning — some  of  the  boys  began  stamp- 
ing their  feet  as  other  students  came  into  the  chapel.  Of  course  the  thing 
was  just  done  in  sport — at  least  I  think  it  was,  but  one  of  them,  after  the 
professor,  (I  think  it  was  the  Rev.  W.  W,  Campbell  who  was  conducting 
the  services  that  morning,)  had  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible,  there  was  a 
noise  as  though  some  one  had  kicked  against  the  seat — this  during  prayer. 
I  raised  my  hand  and  that  stopped  the  noise,  and  if  the  students  had  not 
about  that  time  been  in  a  state  of  rebellion  I  would  not  have  paid  any  at- 
tention to  it ;  but  under  the  rebellion  that  existed  there  at  the  time,  1  could 
not  let  it  pass  by  without  notice.  There  was  one  of  the  members  of  the 
faculty  sitting  right  close  to  his  elbow,  and  told  him  what  he  had  done, 
and  I  told  him  I  would  have  to  send  him  home  a  week  for  such  gross  mis- 
behavior during  the  time  of  chapel  services.  The  student  denied  it  very 
emphatically.  I  told  him  that  I  could  not  possibly  be  mistaken,  although 
I  thought  there  might  possibly  be  a  mistake  somewhere.  I  thought  I  had 
better  investigate  it  a  little,  so  I  permitted  him  to  bring  one  of  his  friends 
along  in  to  see  me,  and  if  he  coroborated  him  I  would  let  up.  The  friend 
that  he  brought  in  said  that  he  did  not  kick  as  much  as  the  rest.  That 
showed  me  that  he  did  kick.  Then,  that  I  had  this  further  evidence,  I  just 
told  him  that  he  must  go  for  a  week.  The  bo}^  then  appealed  to  Professor 
McKee,  who  was  taking  an  active  part  in  the  boys'  interest,  and  Professor 
Buckhout  had  his  petition  and  handed  it  to  the  faculty,  and  I  found  they 
were  going  to  take  action  upon  it  and  call  my  action  into  question  ;  but  I 
told  these  gentlemen  that  I  knew  that  I  had  a  resolution  of  the  board  of 
trustees  that  gave  me  the  authority,  and  T  knew  what  I  was  doing.  I  do 
not  think  they  knew  of  the  shape  of  the  resolution  before  this ;  that  kind 
of  got  ahead  of  them,  but  I  knew  the  matter  would  not  stop  there ;  the 

boy 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

What  was  the  boy's  name,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  do  not  remember.  Some  one  suggested  Hunter  as  being  the  boy's 
name.  (Reporter :  Yes,  Hunter  was  the  name  of  the  boy.)  Well,  the 
the  boy  went  straight  to  General  Beaver  with  his  complaint,  who  turned 
right  around  and  wrote  a  letter  and  sent  it  up  with  the  boy,  after  hearing 
his  story,  not  knowing  anything  about  it  except  what  the  boy  told  him. 
He  rebuked  me  in  the  letter,  and  said  I  had  exceeded  my  authority,  and 
from  what  he  knew  the  boy  was  afflicted  with  some  kind  of  nervousness, 


256  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

and  the  noise  he  had  made  in  the  chapel  was  on  account  of  that,  and  he 
could  not  help  it.  I  soon  after  this  went  down  to  see  General  Beaver,  and 
two  of  the  professors  were  there,  I  suppose  each  to  tell  his  story,  and 
what  they  told  him  I  do  not  know,  but  the  General  turned  around  and  said 
to  me,  •'  You  have  exceeded  your  authority  in  sending  home  the  boy  Hun- 
ter— that  you  should  have  consulted  the  faculty  first."  I  just  warmed  up 
and  said,"  General,  I  am  going  to  be  president  of  this  college."  I  knew 
I  had  something  to  fall  back  upon.  I  knew  I  could  fall  back  on  the  reso- 
lution of  the  board  of  trustees. 
Newspaper  Reporter : 

Will  you  please  repeat  what  you  said  to  General  Beaver  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  :      • 

I  said,  "  General,  I  am  president  of  this  college,  and  I  propose  to  let  the 
students  know  it."  This  silenced  the  General  for  some  time.  He  wanted 
to  know  what  authority  I  had,  and  I  informed  him  what  authority  I  had 
from  the  board  of  trustees.  This  ended  the  matter  for  the  time,  but  Gen- 
eral Beaver  lost  no  opportunity  to  let  me  know  he  was  alive  and  kicking. 
Then  I  found  out  that  there  were  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  faculty, 
whenever  we  would  come  in  contact,  would  run  down  to  General  Beaver 
and  misrepresent  things  to  him.  General  Beaver  was  opposed  to  me,  but  I 
never  knew  any  reason  for  it  except  the  misrepresentation  on  the  part  of 
these  men.  I  found  the  same  members  of  the  faculty  that  had  been  iden- 
tified with  the  opposition  to  Dr.  Calder,  my  predecessor,  were  with  the 
rebellious  students.  The  thing  went  so  far  that  I  made  a  statement  to 
him,  and  told  him  that  Professor  McKee  was  inciting  the  students  to  rebel- 
lion, and  1  thought  he  should  be  removed. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Was  this  in  General  Beaver's  office  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Yes  ;  that  he  was  continually  carrying  news  to  him — General  Beaver — 
and  misrepresenting  things  very  much.  General  Beaver  denied  that  he 
had  ever  been  spoken  to  about  it  by  any  of  the  faculty.  He  went  on  and 
extolled  Professor  McKee,  and  said  that  he  was  a  splendid  man,  and  a 
better  man  for  the  place  he  occupied  could  not  be  found.  I  said,  "  Gen- 
eral, did  you  not  use  your  influence  to  make  McKee  president,  or  that  he 
had  offered  him  the  position  ?"  The  General  said  he  had  never  offered  it 
to  him,  nor  he  was  not  fit  for  the  position.  So  these  misrepresentations 
continued  to  go  to  General  Beaver  as  before.  I  knew  that  things  were 
getting  along  no  better,  and  I  finally  said  to  General  Beaver, ''  General,  I 
want  to  work  for  you."  The  first  thing  I  said,  I  think,  was  that  he  was 
influenced  by  these  misrepresentations.  That  there  are  a  number  of  per- 
sons at  the  college  whose  influences  had  been  brought  to  bear  upon  you, 
and  you  are  influenced  by  them.  The  General  said  he  was  not,  for  no  rep- 
resentations had  been  made  to  him.  I  said  to  him,  "  I  knew  that  the  first 
thing  was  that  they  would  come  and  make  these  representations  to  him, 
and  you  are  influenced  by  them.  I  want  to  work  with  you.  General,  and 
I  says  I  am  anxious  to  work  with  you,  and  I  believe  you  are  interested 
in  the  success  of  the  college,  and  would  do  what  was  right  if  these  repre- 
sentations were  not  made  to  you."  He  stoutly  denied  that  they  made  any 
representation  to  him  at  all.  I  told  him,  "  I  know  that  there  are,  and  I 
will  not  work  with  you  if  you  believe  the  stories  you  hear  from  them." 
He  then  got  mad,  and  emphatically  and,  in  the  strongest  kind  of  language, 
denied  that  any  person  connected  with  the  college  had  ever  been  to  see 
him  about  the  college  since  I  had  been  president. 

So  I  concluded  I  would  catch  up  the  General  in  his  misstatements  to  me. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  257 

There  was  a  young  fellow  there  by  the  name  of  Reber,  that  had  been  in 
charge  of  the  military  department.  He  had  a  good  deal  of  trouble  with 
the  students,  and  they  would  come  to  me  to  get  excused  from  his  control, 
and  threatened  to  leave  the  college  if  they  had  to  be  under  him.  Well, 
now,  I  was  anxious  that  we  should  have  as  many  students  there  as  possi- 
])le,  and  if  there  was  anything  there  that  was  a  detriment  to  our  students 
I  was  going  to  interfere  and  have  it  remedied.  So  I  excused  these  students 
when  they  came  to  me  with  their  complaints,  and  thought  to  reconcile  them, 
and  show  them  that  they  were  not  taking  the  right  view  of  it.  I  intended 
to  fix  up  the  thing,  so  as  we  would  have  harmony  all  around,  after  I  had 
inquired  into  the  cause  of  the  discontent.  Well,  young  Reber  went  to 
General  Beaver  about  it,  and  the  first  time  afterwards  General  Beaver  went 
for  me  about  it.  I  told  General  Beaver  that  Reber  was  very  unpopular 
with  the  students,  and  I  was  told  he  was  very  unpopular  while  he  was  a 
student  at  college  with  the  students  generally — not  liked  by  them.  I  told 
him,  not  that  I  had  anything  against  Reber  specially,  but  I  told  him  that 
Reber  had  been  down  there  and  made  complaint  to  him — notified  Beaver 
that  I  had  excused  students  from  military  duty.  General  Beaver  denied 
that  he  had  been  there  at  all.  So  I  thought  I  would  trap  up  the  General 
this  time.  So  as  soon  as  I  had  an  opportunity  I  got  into  conversation 
with  Reber,  and  talked  with  him  about  one  thing  and  another,  and  1  says  : 
"  By  the  way,  what  did  General  Beaver  say  to  you  the  other  day  when 
you  told  him  about  me  excusing  some  of  the  students  from  militarj'- 
duty?"  He  said  he  did  not  say  very  much;  that  he  asked  him  a  few 
questions.  I  told  General  Beaver  that  Reber  had  been  down  to  see  him, 
although  Beaver  had  constantly  denied  of  him  being  there ;  so  I  put  at 
Beaver  what  Reber  had  told  me,  and  Beaver  got  very  mad  and  said :  "  Do 
you  mean  to  say  I  do  not  tell  the  truth  ?"  I  says,  "  1  would  not  say  that, 
but"  I  says  "  1  mean  you  do  not  make  correct  statements  ;"  and  I  tripped  him 
up  on  what  he  had  been  telling  me,  by  letting  on  to  Reber  I  knew  that  he 
had  been  down  to  see  Beaver,  when  Reber  took  it  for  granted  that  I  knew 
that  he  had  been  there,  and  he  never  suspected  that  1  was  pumping  him  for 
information.  Well,  it  was  not  long  until  the  board  of  trustees  met  at  Harris- 
burg.  It  met  there  in  January,  1881.  Hamilton,  who  was  business  man- 
ager, and  had  charge  of  the  books,  was  sick,  so  I  told  the  book-keeper  that 
1  wanted  him  to  go  down  to  Harrisburg  and  take  along  the  books,  and  ex- 
plain them  so  as  the  trustees  could  understand  them,  as  he  was  best  ac- 
quainted with  them,  and  knew  more  about  them  than  any  one  else — that 
Hamilton  was  not  fit  to  go.  I  wrote  a  note  to  Hamilton,  stating  I  am  go- 
ing to  Harrisburg  to  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees ;  that  I  directed 
the  book-keeper  to  bring  the  books  of  the  college  down,  and  that  Professor 
McKee  would  take  charge  of  the  college ;  that  he  was  vice-president  and 
would  attend  to  my  duties  during  my  absence.  Well,  you  can  imagine  my 
surprise  when  1  went  to  Harrisburg  and  met  Professor  McKee.  Ho  had 
come  down  with  the  books  from  Bellefonte.  I  understood  he  had  been 
down  and  notified  General  Beaver.  I  don't  know,  but  I  believe.  General 
Beaver  directed  him-to  take  the  books  to  Harrisburg,  after  he  discovered 
Hamilton  was  not  fit  to  go,  while  I  left  McKee  at  the  college  to  take  charge 
of  it  and  attend  to  my  duties  at  the  college.  1  found  out  afterwards  from 
the  book-keeper  that  Hamilton  would  not  give  him  the  books.  Now,  I  was 
at  the  head  of  the  institution,  and  he  was  only  a  subordinate,  and  he  had 
no  right  to  refuse  to  give  those  books  to  the  book-keeper  on  my  orders. 
As  you  well  know,  he  was  only  a  subordinate  to  me,  by  the  resolution  that 
3'ou  heard  read  yesterday.  Well,  McKee  came  there  with  the  books,  and 
1  presented  the  case  to  the  board  of  trustees.  At  once  General  Beaver 
17— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


25S  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

presents  a  letter  that  he  had  received  from  Professor  Hamilton,  the  busi- 
ness manager,  and  I  objected  to  the  letter  being  read.  Says  I, ''  I  left  word 
with  the  book-keeper  to  have  them  books  brought  down  here,  and  come  along 
with  them  himself,  so  if  there  was  anything  the  board  of  trustees  could  not 
understand  he  could  explain  to  them,  and  gave  directions  to  Professor 
McKee  to  take  charge  of  the  college  in  my  absence,  as  he  was  vice  presi- 
dent, and  attend  to  my  duties  ;  and  "  I  says,  "  in  defiance  of  my  order,  he  is 
here  at  the  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees,  where  he  has  not  been  notified 
to  be  present,  and  where  he  is  not  entitled  to  be  without  being  asked." 
General  Beaver  began  at  once  to  defend  him,  and  said  that  Professor  Mc- 
Kee was  there  properly — that  he  had  been  invited  there.  So  I  then,  as  a 
matter  of  self-defense,  let  out  on  General  Beaver,  and  1  used  him  up  pretty 
well  before  I  let  up  on  him.  I  referred  to  the  time  he  was  going  to  kick 
me  out  of  his  office,  as  1  just  said  to  you,  because  I  had  shown  to  him.  him- 
self, the  misstatements  he  had  made  to  me ;  and  1  repeated  to  the  board  of 
trustees  what  I  have  detailed  to  your  committee  about  the  misrepresenta- 
tions that  were  carried  to  him  by  Professors  McKee,  Smith,  Hamilton,  and 
others,  and  how  I  trapped  him  up  through  Reber.  Of  course  it  laid  Gen- 
eral Beaver  out  for  that  night.  He  never  rallied  from  it  that  night,  and  he 
saw  that  the  case  was  against  him,  and  he  gave  me  no  further  trouble  just 
then.  I  then  asked  the  board  of  trustees  for  a  committee  of  investigation 
to  look  into  McKee's  conduct. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

What  time  of  the  year  was  this,  Mr.  Shortlidge,and  what  year  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

January,  1881.  The  committee  came  there  and  they  commenced  their 
investigation,  and  everything  that  they  did  was  done  in  secret.  1  was 
not  allowed  to  be  present  when  the  members  of  the  faculty  were  ex- 
amined ;  and  I  contend  that,  as  a  matter  of  right,  I  had  a  right  to  be 
present,  for  I  was  president  of  ihe  college,  and  had  solicited  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  committee.  They  would  not  let  me  hear  any  of  the  evidence 
taken  by  the  committee.  Every  member  of  the  faculty  was  called  in  by 
himself  before  this  investigating  committee,  and  I  was  not  allowed  to  be 
present  to  hear  a  single  member  of  the  faculty  tcbtify.  The  whole  investi- 
gation was  had  in  "  star  chamber  "  style.  Each  member  of  the  faculty  was 
brought  in  and  examined  separate.  One  of  the  members  of  the  board  of 
trustees  told  me  it  was  a  set-up  job  on  me,  and  it  was  intended  when  they 
were  appointed  to  make  a  report  against  me.  I  told  him  if  they  did  not 
make  a  true  report  I  would  be  ready  to  hand  in  my  resignation. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

What  committee  was  this  you  are  now  talking  of? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

It  was  a  committee  appointed  by  the  board  of  trustees,  and  was  com- 
posed of  the  members  of  the  board.  I  wanted  the  committee  appointed 
to  investigate  the  conduct  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  faculty,  and 
remove  some  that  were  totally  incompetent  to  fill  the  position  they  were 
trying  to  fill.  Professor  Smith  was  one  of  them.  He  was  professor  of 
chemistry,  and  I  found  him  incompetent  to  fill  that  position,  because  he 
did  not  understand  chemical  analysis ;  he  could  not  explain  certain  prin- 
ciples of  chemical  analysis  to  the  students,  and  they  complained  to  me 
about  it.  I  asked  for  his  removal,  because  of  his  incompetency.  I  was 
convinced  of  this  from  what  I  heard  of  him  among  the  students,  and  from 
my  personal  knowledge.  I  happened  to  be  in  Professor  Smith's  study  one 
day,  and  I  saw  his  brother-in-law,  who  was  a  student  there  at  the  college, 
bring  him  a  borax  bead  that  was  colored,  and  it  looked  ver}'  much  like 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  259 

iron.  I  saw  at  once  it  was  manganese  ;  but  I  saw  he  hesitated,  and,  in  a 
hesitating  way,  said  he  *did  not  think  it  was  iron,  but  still  ir  looked  like  it. 
1  spoke  up  and  said,  "  Professor,  is  it  not  manganese  ? ''  He  said,  *'  Yes ; 
that  is  what  it  is."  Now,  here  was  a  test  that  came  under  my  own  observa- 
tion, where  his  own  brother-in-law,  a  student,  too,  who  brought  him  a  speci- 
men of  metal,  and  he  could  not  tell  him  whether  it  was  iron  or  manganese. 
This  is  what  I  saw  myself  that  corroborated  the  objections  the  students 
were  making  to  him.  I  was  satisfied  he  was  utterly  incompetent  for  the 
position,  and  I  prevailed  on  General  Beaver  to  have  him  removed.  I  was 
informed  by  those  who  were  in  a  position  to  know,  that  it  was  perfectly 
useless  to  attempt  to  induce  General  Beaver  to  oppose  Professor  Smith. 
Finally,  1  wanted  to  know  why  Beaver  was  so  friendly  towards  Smith,  and 
I  began  to  inquire  the  cause  of  it  from  a  certain  party,  and  he  said  to  me 
that  he  had  been  engaged  to  Mr.  Beaver's  sister,  although  you  saw  some 
of  the  statements  in  the  newspaper  where  1  should  have  said  that  Professor 
Smith  w£,s  engaged  to  Mr.  Beaver's  wife's  youngest  sister,  and  expected 
to  marr}'  her.  I  never  said  that ;  and  1  think  the  reporter  misrepresented 
me  on  purpose.  I  got  the  information  from  some  friends  at  the  college, 
and  I  have  ever\'  reason  to  believe  it  true  ;  and  he  told  me  that  General 
Beaver  would  not  remove  Smith,  because  he  had  been  engaged  to  General 
Beaver's  wife's  sister.  Of  course  I  admit  it  is  a  ver}"  unfortunate  thing  to 
bring  out  the  whole  story  ;  for  to  speak  about  it,  no  doubt,  brings  up  in 
Mr.  Smith's  recollection  thoughts  of  pleasant  hours ;  and  to  have  the  sub- 
ject discussed  before  an  investigating  committee  is,  undoubtedly,  unpleasant 
to  Mr.  Smith,  and  I  would  not  refer  to  it  were  it  not  that  it  has  gotten  be- 
fore the  public  and  been  very  much  distorted,  and  I  owe  it  to  Professor 
Smith  to  correct  it,  as  well  as  myself  and  the  memory  of  the  lady  ;  for, 
while  Professor  Smith  was  paN'ing  his  attention  to  the  lady,  she  died,  and, 
of  course,  he  married  somebody  else,  which  1  knew  at  the  time  as  well  as 
I  know  I  am  here  in  this  room  testifying — that  Professor  Smith  was  mar- 
ried to  a  very  estimable  lady,  some  years  ago.  My  friend  told  me,  "  You 
cannot  influence  General  Beaver  against  Smith  on  this  account ;"  and  this 
it  was  that  accounted  for  the  friendly  feeling  between  General  Beaver  and 
his  brother-in-law :  that  was  the  information  I  got  when  I  was  there. 
Smith  was  married,  and  had  been  at  the  time  I  went  there ;'  but  this  hap- 
pened long  ago. 
By  Mr.  Hall . 

You  have  this  mereU*  from  hearsay,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  as  I  understand  you  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  have  it  from  a  very  reliable  gentleman.     I  got  it  from  a 
very  reliable  source,  sir  ;  but  I  don't  know  that  I  will  give  his  name  unless 
I  am  obliged  to. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

I  think  we  had  better  have  the  name  of  the  gentleman  who  told  him,  (ad- 
dressing chairman  Mylin.) 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  dont  know  that  it  is  necessary  to  have  his  name  mentioned  unless  the 
case  comes  up. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

It  will  come  up.  We  want  to  go  to  him  with  this  evidence  and  trace  it 
to  its  original  source,  otherwise  we  will  have  to  discard  all  that  is  hearsay 
evidence. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

There  is  a  person  here  that  heard  the  same  statement  as  I  did. 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 


260  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

I  was  present  when  it  was  told  to  Mr.  Shortlidge,  and  1  can  corroborate 
him  in  that  statement. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Well,  that  does  not  serve  our  purpose,  though.     We  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  investigate  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  and  it  has  been 
said  publicly  that  the  committee  was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  "  cov- 
ering up."     Now,  we  want  all  the  evidence  we  can  get  on  the  management 
of  the  State  College ;  and  we  want  the  best  evidence  that  can  be  adduced. 
We  want  to  get  at  the  bottom  facts. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
I  don't  know  but  what  I  would  rather  let  that  point  go  against  me.     I 
believe  I  would  rather  have  the  case  go  against  me  rather  than  give  the 
name  of  that  informant,  although  I  could  produce  a  person  that  heard  the 
same  statement  that  I  heard. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 
You  understand  the  motive  of  the  committee,  no  doubt,  in  wanting  the 
name  of  your  informant,  as  we  want  to  call  him,  and  he  may  be  able  to  give 
us  additional  information  that  might  throw  light  on  the  matter  we  are  in- 
vestigating; we  do  not  wish  you  to  understand  that  the  committee  doubts 
your  veracity,  but  we  would  like  the  name  of  the  informant  for  the  purpose 
I  have  stated. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  sir ;  I  understand,  but  unless  I  am  compelled  to  give  the  name  I 
will  not  do  it — I  would  rather  have  that  part  of  my  testimony  go  against 
me  than  to  give  the  name  of  my  informant.  I  am  not  going  to  draw  any- 
bod3'  else  into  this.  I  would  rather  bear  the  censure  myself  than  to  do  it, 
and,  unless  1  am  compelled  to  do  it,  I  decline  to  concede  to  your  request — 
then  it  may  be  a  matter  not  under  my  control,  and  I  could  not  do  better 
than  tell  it. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Mr.  Shortlidge,  the  lady  you  refer  to  in  your  speech  at  Media,  the  other 
day,  as  being  engaged  to  Professor  Smith,  was  a  daughter  of  H.  N.  McAl- 
lister's, and  a  sister  of  the  wife  of  General  Beaver. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  sir ;  shie  was  a  daughter  of  H.  N.  McAllister's. 

By  Mr.  Alexander: 
You  said  a  younger  sister  of  General  Beav^er's  wife.     Now,  do  you  not 
know,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  that  the  lady  you  referred  to  was  on  older  daughter 
of  H.  N.  McAllister's  than  Mrs.  Beaver,  and  that  she  has  been  dead  a  num- 
ber of  years  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  :  , 

I  understand  he  had  a  daughter  older  who  died  years  ago. 

By  Mr.  Alexander: 
Do  you  know  how  long  ago? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
No  ;  1  do  not  know. 

By  Mr.  Alexander: 
Do  you  think  it  was  the  proper  thing  for  you  to  do  to  speak  of  a  lady — 
of  an  estimable  ladj"^,  as  I  knew  her  to  be — in  a  speech,  in  the  manner  \'OU 
did.     Is  there  any  excuse  for  referring  to  such  a  thing  at  all  in  a  speech  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Of  course  I  think  it  is  a  very  unfortunate  thing  to  go  over  all  this  stuff 
here,  and  I  never  expected  it  would  get  into  public  print  when  I  referred 
to  it  in  my  speech. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  261 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

There  is  also  another  daughter  married  to  Dr.  Hayes  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir ;  Dr.  Hayes,  he  knew  well  enough  what  I  meant,  and  he  distorted 
the  thing  in  his  communication  to  the  papers  for  a  purpose.  He  had  a 
purpose  in  view  when  he  distorted  that,  and  misrepresented  that  thing,  so 
if  what  I  said  was  referred  to  or  would  come  up  before  the  convention  at 
Harrisburg  he  could  head  it  oflf,  for  if  it  would  have  gotten  before  that 
convention  it  certainly  would  not  have  helped  his  chances  for  the  nomina- 
tion of  Governor,  and  he  had  it  published  in  Philadelphia  Press  just  be- 
fore the  convention. 

Q.  Was  there  a  communication  in  the  Philadelphia  Press  on  the  subject  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir  ;  the  very  day  before  the  convention.  On  Tuesday,  before  the 
day  of  the  convention,  he  published  his  distorted  statement,  so  as  to  meet 
an}'  opposition  that  might  arise  by  reason  of  what  I  said. 

(Members  of  committee  withdraw  for  consultation  as  to  whether  witness 
should  divulge  the  name  of  the  informant,  which  witness  declined  and  re- 
fused to  give  unless  compelled  to.) 
By  Chairman  Mylin  : 

In  regard  to  answering  the  question  asked  by  the  committee,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  name  of  your  informant  of  the  matter  you  have  just  stated, 
the  committee  have  determined  not  to  insist  on  an  answer  at  present,  but 
have  determined  to  hold  the  matter  under  advisement  for  the  time  being, 
so  you  can  continue  in  your  statement. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

You  see  I  do  not  want  the  matter  brought  out  any  more  than  it  already 
is. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Were  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  McAlister's  family  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

No,  sir ;  1  did  not  nor  do  not  know  them.     I  never  saw  any  of  them 
that  I  know  of ;  I  only  know  what  was  reported  to  me. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Will  you  now  proceed,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

There  was  Prof.  Hamilton,  who  had  been  professor  of  agriculture,  and  I 
saw  from  the  condition  the  farms  were  in,  that  under  his  administration  as 
professor  of  agriculture  the  farms  were  a  failure.  So  far  as  practical  ex- 
periments were  attempted  under  his  supervision,  nothing  was  successful. 
I  heard  Prof.  Buckhout  state  in  the  president's  office  before  a  faculty' 
meeting  was  called,  but  whether  several  members  of  the  faculty  were  in 
there  at  that  time  I  do  not  remember,  but  I  think  they  were ;  he  said  there 
is  not  a  single  experiment  that  was  attempted  by  Pi'of.  Hamilton  that  can 
be  relied  upon.  I  said,  "  Why,  they  are  published  as  certain  results  from 
experiments  made  ;  "  but  he  said,  "  There  is  not  a  single  experiment  in  all 
of  them  that  can  be  relied  upon." 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Mr.  Shortlidge,  the  committee  would  prefer  you  to  confine  yourself  to 
your  own  views  and  judgment  of  the  matter,  and  your   own   personal 
knowledge,  instead  of  giving  the  opinions  of  third  persons. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

W^ell,  I  saw  myself  that  the  experimental  farms  were  a  failure  under 
Hamilton.  I  heard  him,  as  professor  of  agriculture,  tell  some  of  the  work 
hands  on  the  experimental  farm  how  to  feed  milch  cows.     He  told  them 


262  Report  of  the  Committee.  .  [No.  18, 

the  proper  thing  to  feed  them  v/as  corn  meal  to  make  milk.  Now,  corn 
meal,  as  a  matter  of  course,  contains  an  element  that  will  produce  milk, 
but  of  itself  it  would  not.  You  must  mix  it  in  order  to  obtain  the  hipfhest 
results.  If  you  want  a  cow  to  give  the  greatest  quantity  of  milk,  and  are 
feeding  her  bran,  as  well  as  corn  meal,  mix  it,  and  then  feed  most  bran. 
Now,  I  heard  Professor  Hamilton  give  such  instructions,  and  I  object  to 
the  instructions,  and  I  gave  instructions  to  feed  bran  also.  Now,  these 
were  instructions  given  by  a  man  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  agricultural 
department  of  the  State  College,  and  I  merely  speak  of  this  to  show  the 
qualifications  of  Professor  Hamilton.  We  had  a  little  dispute  about  it, 
and  he  got  up  and  was  going  to  take  down  his  chemistrj^  and  show  me  that 
the  chemistry  said  so.  Said  I  :  "  You  do  not  need  to  go  to  that  trouble. 
I  do  not  care  what  your  book  says.  You' cannot  tell  me  that  corn  meal  is 
the  proper  thing  to  feed  to  a  cow  to  give  milk,  instead  of  bran  and  corn 
meal."  After  considerable  discussion  the  matter  was  dropped, and  it  rested 
at  that.  Then  there  was  some  of  the  old  neighbor  farmers  there  that  told 
me  that  the  farm  was  being  badly  managed  under  Professor  Hamilton's  ad- 
ministration ;  that  they  were  raising  about  eight  bushels  of  grain  to  the 
acre  where  they  had  formerly  been  raising  forty.  From  what  I  saw,  and 
from  the  information  I  could  gather,  I  was  satisfied  that  the  land  was  run 
down  and  needed  phosphates.  I  tried  to  persuade  Professor  Hamilton  to 
experiment  with  phosphates,  but  I  could  not  induce  him  to  try  it,  nohow. 
He  said  he  was  using  manure.  Of  course,  I  knew  myself  manure  was 
good,  but  they  could  not  get  enough  of  manure  for  what  they  needed  there. 
I  was  satisfied  there  had  been  good  results  of  phosphates  from  other  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  so  I  got  three  or  four  manufacturers  of  phosphates 
to  give  as  a  donation  to  the  college  some  of  their  phosphates  to  try  as  an 
experiment,  and  they  all  cheerfully  did  it.  So  he  began  the  business  of 
phosphates.  He  used  it,  and  the  gain  could  at  once  be  seen.  There  was 
such  a  difierence  in  its  favor  that  it  was  noticed  by  the  farmers,  and  re- 
marked on  by  them.  I  wanted  them  to  try  phosphate  on  wheat,  but  they 
had  no  drill  there  fit  to  be  used  for  that  purpose.  It  may  have  done  to 
drill  in  wheat  without  anything  in  with  it,  bat  so  far  as  the  use  of  phos- 
phates was  concerned  it  was  not  fit  for  anything,  and  so  that  experiment 
had  to  be  dispensed  with.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  farmers  there  would 
not  try  it.  I  think  Messrs.  Alexander,  of  Bellefo"te,  had  a  car  load  of 
phosphates  brought  into  that  neighborhood,  and  I  think  they  had  the 
hardest  kind  of  trouble  to  sell  it.  I  think  I  got  from  a  man  there  in  Al- 
exander &  Co.'s  otlice.  I  think  he  told  me  they  gave  most  of  it  away  on 
trial.  So  I  got  to  work  to  convince  these  men — the  farmers  there — that 
phosphate  was  the  proper  thing  to  use.  It  could  not  be  used  on  the  col- 
lege farm,  for  Professor  Hamilton  would  not  allow  it  to  be  done.  I  soon 
began  to  see  what  kind  of  farming  was  done  there,  and  I  made  up  my  mind 
that  Professor  Hamilton  was  not  the  right  man  in  the  right  place,  and 
thought  there  ought  to  be  somebody  there  that  understood  that  business, 
and  I  spoke  about  having  him  removed,  and  insisted  on  it,  and  have  his 
place  filled  by  one  who  was  competent.  Well,  Professor  McKee  opposed 
me  in  that.  I  found  out  that  Professor  Hamilton  had  been  also  an  aspir- 
ant for  the  position  of  president  of  the  college.  His  name  had  been  of- 
fered to  the  board  of  trustees,  but  they  were  not  fools  enough  to  appoint. 
Then  here  comes  Professor  McKee  next,  who,  perhaps,  didn't  care  so  much 
about  president,  but  he  wanted  to  run  the  college.  If  you  could  have  a 
mere  figure-head  in  there  as  president  of  the  college,  and  allow  McKee  to 
run  it,  he  would  be  all  right.  I  found  that  he  had  talked  with  the  students 
and  had  persuaded  some  to  stand  by  him.     May  be  it  might  be  well  for  me 


LiX3.  Doc.J  Pennsylvania  State  College.  263 

to  state  right  here  what  I  wanted  him  to  do,  but  I  don't  know  that  it  is  of 

much  consequence,  but 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

I  do  not  think  we  care  about  that,  Mr.  Shortlidge. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

Well,  as  a  matter  of  course,  he  used  his  influence  on  the  boys,  whose 
prejudices  were  easily  moved.  As  a  matter  of  course,  he  had  these  stu- 
dents with  him,  and,  by  their  assistance,  endeavored  to  oppose  me  when- 
ever they  could.  I  found  out  soon  after  I  went  there  that  Professors 
Hamilton  and  McKee  were  the  friends  of  Beaver,  and  wherein  I  was  op- 
posed by  General  Beaver.  This  state  of  things  continued  for  some  time, 
and  I  was  perfectly  powerless  to  introduce  any  reforms  which  had  to  be 
carried  out  by  the  board  of  trustees,  as  General  Beaver  always  stood  in  the 
way  ;  and  that  which  Professor  Hamilton  would  suggest  was  generally 
listened  to.  Then  I  discovered  that  General  Beaver  was  the  State  Col- 
lege ;  that  whatever  he  said  must  be  done.  Everybody  knuckled  down  to 
him,  including  the  board  of  trustees.  The}"^  did  just  as  he  directed.  The 
board  of  trustees  went  there  probably  with  the  intention  to  do  the  right 
thing ;  but  General  Beaver  being  the  only  trustee  living  near,  the  college 
matters  were  left  to  him  to  look  after  at  the  college,  and,  as  a  general 
thing,  they  took  his  statements  that  he  made  to  them  as  facts,  and  never 
investigated  for  themselves,  to  find  out  whether  his  statements  were  true 
or  not.  Consequently  they  would  do  whatever  he  told  them  to  do.  I  do 
not  find  any  misappropriation  of  the  college  funds.  I  do  not  think  Gen- 
eral Beaver  or  any  of  the  trustees  ever  misused  any  of  the  college  funds  ; 
nor  do  I  think  that  any  person  connected  with  the  college  could  be  charged 
with  making  a  misappropriation  of  any  of  the  funds  for  their  own  benefit;  and 
I  think  the  funds  have  all  been  applied  to  the  use  of  the  college,  and  have, 
no  doubt,  been  applied  honestly  and  justly  by  those  whose  power  it  is  to 
appropriate  the  funds  ;  but  there  was  a  misapplication  of  the  funds  in  that 
they  were  spent  uselessly.  Xow,here  was  Professor  Smith.  The  friendly 
relations  between  him  and  General  Beaver  were  very  warm,  for  reasons 
1  have  already  stated.  Well,  Professor  Smith  concluded  that  he  must 
have  a  house  to  move  into.  Professor  Smith  mentioned  it  to  General 
Beaver,  and  the  house  was  built.  The  contract  price — I  do  not  remember 
the  exact  amount  of  money,  but  I  think  it  was  $5,00<' — was  appropriated 
by  the  board  of  trustees  to  build  the  house ;  but  Professor  Smith  con- 
cluded that  he  would  put  on  $l,3w0  more  than  was  ordered  by  the  board 
of  trustees.  That  came  up  before  the  board  of  trustees,  and,  of  course, 
was  paid,  which  may  have  been  all  right ;  but  Professor  Smith,  in  getting 
a  release  from  the  mechanic,  who,  I  understand,  was  paid  by  Smith's  di- 
rection, the  board  of  trustees  got  no  release  from  the  lumberman  who  fur- 
nished the  mechanic  the  lumber.  After  the  mechanic  had  been  paid  for 
his  work,  as  well  as  for  the  lumber  furnished,  he  did  not  pay  the  man  he 
got  the  lumber  from,  and  after  this  was  all  fixed  up,  and  supposed  to  be 
paid,  then  conies  in  the  lumberman  for  his  money  and  filed  a  claim  against 
it,  on  which  there  was  a  suit  brought,  and  the  college  had  to  pay  the 
second  time  by  order  of  the  court.  Professor  Smith  had  paid  the  bill  once 
in  full,  but  he  had  paid  it  to  the  meohanic.  who  failed  in  his  turn  to  apply 
it  to  the  payment  of  the  lumber.  Smith  paid  it  to  an  irresponsible  party, 
and  the  man  who  sold  the  lumber  had  not  received  the  pay ;  consequently, 
to  make  himself  sure,  he  presented  to  the  court  his  claim  against  the 
house,  and  the  college  could  do  nothing  better  than  pay  it.  It  was  all  a 
mistake,  as  a  matter  of  course,  of  Professor  Smitn  in  paying  the  money 
to  the  mechanic,  consequently  the  money  was  paid  twice  :  once  bj"^  Smith 


264  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

and  once  by  the  coUef^e  ;  but  I  understand  that  Smith  holds  the  college 
notes  for  the  money  he  paid,  and  expects  to  get  it  back  sometime  in  the 
future. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

You  are  speaking  now  of  a  mechanic's  lien  that  was  filed  against  the  col- 
lege.    Can  you  name  the  plaintiflF  in  the  mechanic's  lien  y 
Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

No,  sir;  I  can't  tell  you  who  they  were,  but  the  records  of  the  court 
will  show  that.  1  am  only  speaking  of  one  instance,  to  show  how  General 
Beaver's  friends  used  the  money  appropriated  to  the  college.  That  is  my 
objection,  to  the  manner  in  which  the  money  is  used,  it  is  uselessly  wasted. 
I  found  that  General  Beaver,  by  the  representations  made  by  his  friends, 
always  had  some  cross-examination  to  make  of  me  whenever  he  saw  rae ; 
sometimes  he  was  perfectly  tyrannical  to  me,  and  his  manner  was  always 
domineering  towards  me.  He  has  been  very  abusive  to  me  in  his  office. 
He  done  things  he  had  no  business  to  do.  There  was  an  article  published 
by  the  Legislative  Journal  which  had  been  sent  to  Harrisburg  by  Professor 
Hamilton.  These  reports  he  reported  to  the  Legislature,  and  they  were 
afterwards  published  in  the  Legislature's  Journal.  As  soon  as  they  were 
published  General  Beaver  come  to  me  and  censured  me  because  I  didn't 
get  them  and  correct  them.  Says  I,  "  General  Beaver,  the  reports  did  not 
come  to  me,  they  were  not  submitted  to  me  at  all,  1  never  seen  a  copy  of 
them  before — they  were  not  sent  to  me,  not  even  a  copy  "  and  he  was  very 
abusive  to  me.  I  saw  him  coming  out  of  Hamilton's  office,  where  a  great 
deal  of  this  vindictiveness  was  infused  into  him  by  Professor  Hamilton  ;  I 
made  up  my  mind  that  there  would  be  music  in  the  air  as  soon  as  I  saw 
him  coming,  from  the  style  in  which  he  advanced.  There  was  fight  por- 
trayed in  his  countenance. 
By  Mr.  Roberts : 

What  fund  was  that  $5,000  taken  out  of,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  if  .you  know  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Taken  out  of  the  college  fund ;  you  know  there  is  a  law  to  do  anything 
of  that  kind,  but  no  law  to  appropriate  anything  to  the  experimental  farms, 
if  anything  of  the  kind  is  wanted. 
By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  I  want  to  know  whether  the  $5,000  was  any  part  of  the  $30,000  ? 

A.  I  suppose  so. 
By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  Did  you  ever  examine  to  see  how  that  was  ? 

A.  No ;  but  from  what  I  saw ;  I  am  well  satisfied  that  it  was  so. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Why  do  you  testify  to  that  then,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  when  you  have  no 
positive  facts  to  predicate  your  opinion  upon  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Because  I  was  satisfied  in  ray  own  mind  that  it  was  a  part  of  that  fund ; 
but  that  is  a  thing  you  can  look  into,  and  examine  yourselves. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

I    think   the  evidence   already   before   the   committee  shows  that  the 
$5,00u,  or  whatever  has  been  paid,  did  not  come  out  of  the  interest  on  the 
endowment  fund,  but  it  constitutes  a  part  of  the  building  rent  of  the  col- 
lege.    That  is  what  I  think  without  referring  to  the  evidence. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

There  is  five  hundred  dollars  come  out  of  the  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
appropriation  that  went  to  pay  the  lien  against  the  college. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  265 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Do  3'ou  say  the  six  hundred  dollars  that  were  paid  for  lien  that  was  filed 
for  lumber,  was  paid  out  of  the  thirty  thousand  dollars  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

Well,  I  will  not  be  too  positive  about  that ;  you  can  ascertain  that  from 
another  source. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

What  do  you  know  about  the  manner  in  which  the  experimental  farms 
were  conducted  ?     Let  us  hear  what  you  have  to  say  upon  that  subject. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

When  I  went  there  the  experiiiiental  farms  were  in  a  bad  condition. 
There  was  a  good  bit  of  dissatisfaction  about  that.  The  committee  from 
the  Experimental  Farm  Club  at  West  Grove  wrote  me  a  letter  stating  that 
there  ought  to  be  something  done  ;  that  the  buildings  needed  repairing, 
and  everything  was  going  to  destruction,  which  I  presented  to  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  college  in  the  meeting  about  the  1st  of  July.  There 
was  a  committee  appointed  to  go  down  and  visit  them  and  see  if  we  could 
not  do  something  to  satisfy  the  Experimental  Farm  Club  £,t  West  Grove. 
General  Beaver,  Victor  Piolette,  Thomas  J.  Edge,  and  myself,  were  ap- 
pointed on  the  committee.  We  went  down  there  and  there  was  a  public 
meeting  held.  What  was  called  there  a  farmers'  picnic  was  held  at  the 
experimental  farm.  General  Beaver  made  a  speech  there,  nnd  told  them 
in  his  speech  that  no  part  of  the  funds  of  the  college  could  be  taken  to 
repair  the  buildings,  that  the  money  for  that  purpose  had  to  come  from 
another  source.  He  read  the  law  to  them  out  of  a  book,  at  least  what  I 
supposed  was  the  law  at  the  time,  and  I  guess  a  good  many  others  thought 
it  to  be  the  law,  but  some  that  were  there  said  it  was  not ;  but  I  did  not 
have  a  copy  of  it;  but  I  afterwards  discovered  that  thei'e  was  a  large 
grant  fund  of  about  eighty  thousand  dollars  that  the  Legislature  had  do- 
nated, and  that  the  interest  of  that,  I  understand,  was  to  go  to  the  exper- 
imental farms  ;  they  were  to  be  kept  up  out  of  this  experimental  farm 
fund.  But,  however,  I  afterwards  discovered  that  General  Beaver  had 
read  just  as  much  of  the  law  as  suited  his  purpose,  and  the  rest  he  left  out, 
and  that  matter  was  a  common  thing  of  conversation  after  his  speech  among 
the  people  there,  and  everybody  was  familiar  with  the  fact  that  he  had  not 
read  all  of  the  law  in  the  way  he  made  his  spetch.  He  proposed  to  those 
who  were  at  that  meeting,  that  when  the  Legislature  would  meet  he  would 
apply  to  the  Legislature  to  get  $5,000  for  each  farm,  which  would  put  this 
farm  and  the  Central  and  Western  experimental  farms  into  good  condi- 
tion.    That  proposition  seemed  to  satisfy  a  majority  of  them. 

Q.  What  time  was  this  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

This  was  in  August,  1880,  the  19th  day  of  August,  I  think  the  meeting 
was  held.  After  that  we  went  back  to  the  college,  and  I  think  the  first 
next  meeting  our  committee  had  was  on  January  7,  1H81.  But  we  were 
present  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  at  that  meeting 
there  was  a  proposition  made  to  sell  the  farm  and  bring  the  money  to  the 
college.  I  objected  to  it.  I  stopped  it.  In  the  first  place  I  thought  1 
would  not  vote,  but  when  I  found  it  would  carry  I  voted  against  it,  and 
defeated  the  proposition,  and  bj^  me  voting  against  it  the  thing  was  dropped. 
General  Beaver  then  introduced  a  bill  in  the  Legislature.  Mr.  Alexander 
says  he  introduced  the  bill;  but  after  that  the  thing  was  dropped,  and  I 
never  heard  nothing  more  of  it.  In  March  General  Beaver  came  up  to  the 
college  just  at  the  time  we  were  getting  out  our  new  circulars  for  the  col- 
lege, for  the  purpose  of  endeavoring  to  get  new  students,  and  to  work  up  a 


266  ,  Report  op  the  Committee.  fNo.  18, 

general  interest  in  the  college  all  over  the  State.  Says  I  to  him  :  "  In  our 
endeavoring  to  get  students  it  is  necessary  to  stop  this  claraoring  in  Ches- 
ter county  against  the  college,  and  to  do  that,  that  appropriation  for  the 
farms  must  be  got,  and  "  I  says,  "  it  is  necessary  for  somebody  to  go  to 
Harrisburg  to  see  that  that  bill  goes  through  making  the  appropriation  for 
these  different  farms,"  He  turned  around  and  said  to  me  :  "  I  never  intended 
that  bill  to  go  through — 1  only  introduced  it  as  a  blinder."  That  was  after 
he  had  told  the  Experimental  Farm  Club,  at  West  Grove,  that  he  would  put 
that  bill  through.  I  do  not  think  he  ever  intended,  at  the  time  he  said  it 
in  his  speech  that  that  bill  should  ever  go  through  at  all,  for  the  first  meet- 
ing after  that  speech,  of  the  board  of  trustees,  he  just  turned  around  on  the 
question  and  wanted  to  sell  the  farm,  and  bring  the  money  to  the  college; 
and  he  wou'd  have  carried  his  point  had  I  not  voted  agair.st  it.  This  was 
a  settlement  of  the  matter  of  SiSjOOO  for  each  farm  to  ray  mind,  and  it  was 
so,  too.  for  I  never  heard  it  afterwards.  He  told  them  at  that  meeting,  at 
which  he  made  a  speech  at  the  Eastern  experimental  farm,  that  the  law 
would  not  permit  them  to  use  money  that  went  to  the  college,  but  1  after- 
wards found  out  that  it  was  not  so. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
What  time  of  the  year  was  this  conversation  had  ? 
Bv  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

In  March,  I  SSI.     My  idea  was  that  he  wanted 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Now,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  are  you  not  speaking  what  your  ideas  are,  and  are 
not  statins:  facts  to  us  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge: 
I  was  going  to  tell  you  what  my  ideas  was  about  it. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
We  do  not  care  much  about  your  ideas,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ;  we  would  like 
to  have  the  facts,  and  the  committee  will  draw  their  own  inferences.    Was 
there  any  person  present  during  this  conversation  ? 
A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
What  do  you  mean  by  a  "  blinder  ?  " 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
I  do  not  know — ha!  ha!  ha!     You  will  have  to  judge  for  yourself.     It 
was  not  hard  for  me  to  interpret  what  he  meant. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ?     You  say  that  General 
Beaver  said  to  you  that  this  bill  was  "  only  a  blinder."     What  do  you 
mean  bv  that  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Those  were  the  words  he  used. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Were  you  and  General  Beaver  on  bad  terms  then  ?    Is  that  your  opinion 
only,  that  the  bill  was  introduced  as  a  "  blinder,"  or  did  he  tell  you  so  ? 
Bv  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Those  were  the  words  he  used ;  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  it ;  he 
said  he  "  never  intended  that  bill  to  go  through  ;  he  only  introduced  it,  or 
had  it  introduced,  as  a  '  blinder.'"     Those  were  the  words  he  used;  now 
you  must  draw  your  own  inference. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
I  introduced  that  bill  myself  into  the  Legislature,  at  the  solicitation  of 
General  Beaver,  and  I  understood  the  bill  was  introduced  in  earnest,  and 
General  Beaver  never  told  me  that  it  was  to  be  introduced  as  a  blinder.    I 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  .  267 

know  I  never  was  more  in  earnest  in  my  life  in  introducing  a  bill  and  advo- 
cating its  passage,  and  from  my  conversation  with  General  Beaver  in  refer- 
ence to  that  bill,  I  believe  he  was,  too. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Of  conrse  there  is  a  good  bit  that  is  dirty  and  nasty  in  this  thing,  I 
was  not  anxious  to  come  here.  You  have  brought  me  here  against  my 
wish,  to  testify ;  you  have  asked  me  to  state  what  I  know  about  this  thing, 
and  I  have  done  it ;  and  in  doing  so  I  intended  to  tell  all  I  knew  about  it, 
and  suppress  nothing. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Will  you  go  on,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  and  finish  your  statement  in  reference 
to  the  college  ?  ^ 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  :  . 

I  don't  know  that  I  have  any  more  to  say ;  I  do  not  think  I  have. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Are  you  a  practical  farmer,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge: 
I  wish  to  state  further,  that  General  Beaver's  opposition  grew  very 
rapidly  ;  he  was  worked  up  to  such  a  point  that  he  would  have  cut  my 
head  off,  but  he  dared  not  do  it,  because  he  had  at  that  time  ahead}'  his 
eye  on  the  Governorship  of  Pennsylvania,  and  two  presidents  resigning 
in  one  year  would  hardly  have  helped  his  chances  in  that  direction ; 
indeed 

By  Mr.  Mylin: 
Mr.  Shortlidge,  I  asked  you  whether  j-ou  were  a  practical  farmer.     Do 
you  knoTv  anything  about  farming  ?     We  would  like  to  hear  from  j^ou  on 
that  point. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge: 
I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  a  practical  farmer  or  not ;  I  do  not  know 
that  I  could  say  .1  come  under  the  term  of  a  practical  farmer  or  not ;  I 
know  something  about  it,  though  ;  I  have  done  something  of  it  in  my 
time ;  I  have  done  the  thing  for  years,  and  I  done  it  to  my  satisfaction, 
and  have  had  good  results.  Of  course,  I  do  not  say  that  I  kept  the  farm 
in  the  best  condition,  for  I  have  a  school  in  connection  with  it,  and  it  has 
my  first  claims  ;  yet  I  think  1  raise  as  good  crops  as  anybody  in  the 
neighborhood  where  I  live.  I  do  not  know  that  I  do  things  as  neat  as  my 
neighbor  farmers,  but  I  believe  I  have  as  much  income,  in  proportion,  as 
they  have ;  I  think  I  have  as  good  a  stock  of  cattle  as  you  can  find  in  vay 
neighborhood  ;  I  think  I  have  some  of  the  best  cows  in  that  neighborhood  : 
I  think  I  have  the  reputation  for  that,  and  I  did  some  farming  in  con- 
nection to  that.  I  have  about  eighteen  acres  of  land,  and  I  raise  crops 
with  the  rest  of  the  farmers.  Some  years  I  farm  right  along  as  they  do, 
but  I  always  make  m}-  farm  duties  subordinate  to  my  school.  Sometimes 
my  school  interferes,  and  I  don't  get  my  crops  into  the  ground  as  other 
people  do,  and  cannot  give  them  as  much  attention  in  cultivating  them  as 
I  should,  but  1  always  do  something  towards  it,  and  when  the  time  comes 
to  reap  the  harvest.  I  am  generally  up  to  the  average.  I  know  what  little 
farming  1  do  always  has  paid  me  for  my  time  and  labor. 

Bj'  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Have  you  paid  any  attention  to  the  subject  of  agricultural  chemistry, 
Mr.  Shortlidge  ?        ' 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
I  have ;  yes,  sir ;  theoretically  ;  I  have  never  experimented  to  a  great 
extent. 


268  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
But  you  are  not  a  professor  of  chemistry,  I  understand  you  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir  ;  I  would  not  set  myself  up  as  a  professor  of  agriculture,  although 
I  have  paid  attention  to  the  theoretical  part  of  it. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Do  you  not  think  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  practical  knowledge  as  well 
as  theoretical  to  be  a  successful  professor  of  agriculture  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
Oh,  it  don't  require  a  person  to  know  much  about  farming  to  be  a  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture.     [Laughter.] 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Do  you   mean  to   say  that  a  person,  to  teach  agriculture  successfully, 
does  not  need  a  practical  knowledge  of  farming,  and  is  that  not  exactly 
what  you  have  been  finding  fault  with  at  the  State  College  ?     Is  that  not 
the  reason  why  you  wanted  Professor  Hamilton  removed  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
I  mean  this  :  That,  although  I  may  not  be  familiar  with  all  the  minor 
details  of  farming,  j'et  I  have  the  capacity  and  ability  to  employ  men  who 
can  do  that  part  of  the  work,  or  in  turn  employ  subordinates  who  will  do 
that  part  of  the  work  ;  but  I  have  a  pretty  thorough  knowledge  on  the 
subject  of  chemistry.     J  have  taken  a  course  with  Dr.  Williams,  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  chemical  analysis.     I  have  some  testimonials  from  him  that  I 
went  there,  and  what  I  did  while  there  under  his  instructions.     I  took  a 
course  in  qualitative  and  I  took  a  course  in   quantitative  chemistry.     I 
have  some  boys  whom  I  have  given  lessons  to  in  chemistry  who  have  be- 
come pretty  good  qualitative  chemists.     Of  course  I  have  experimented 
and  taken   great  pleasure  in  such  things  connected  with  farming ;  but  I 
would  not  want  to  publish  any  of  my  views  as  being  correct  results  of  any 
experiments  I  have  tried,  although  they  have  proved  satisfactory  to  my- 
self; but  Professor  Hamilton  would  publish  his  results  as  being  correct, 
whether  they  were  or  not,  and  I  was  told  that  not  one  of  the  published 
results  of  his  experiments  could  be  relied  on. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
How  often  did  the  board  of  trustees  meet  during  your  connection  with 
the  institution  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
Three  times. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
You  had  access  to  the  board,  then,  to  make  statements  as  to  the  con- 
dition of  things,  had  you  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
Did  you  make  any  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  I  made  statements.     They  always  wanted  me  to  make  my  state- 
ment first. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  :  ' 
Your  only  means  of  reaching  the  trustees  of  the  college  was  not,  then, 
simply  through  General  Beaver  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Oh,  no  ;  1  never  reached  them  through  General  Beaver. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
What  means  have  you  of  knowing  that  matters  were  carried  to  General 
Beaver  by  his  friends  ? 


Leg.  Doc.  J  Pennsylvania  State  College.  269 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

Because  he  would  make  statements  to  me  that  he  could  not  have  known 
anything  about  unless  that  was  the  case,  and  because  some  of  them  would 
tell  they  had  seen  him. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Can  you  name  any  of  the  persons  who  told  you  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Well,  Professor  Osmond  was  one.  He  pulled  out  a  letter  once  to  prove 
to  me  that  General  Beaver  had  directed  otherwise.  I  made  some  arrange- 
ments which  I  had  a  perfect  right  to  make  under  the  resolution  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  at  their  meeting  the  last  of  June,  which  interested  or 
concerned  Professor  Osmond.  When  we  got  into  a  discussion  about  it,  he 
pulled  out  a  letter  from  General  Beaver  which  was  favorable  to  Osmond, 
and  ignoring  me  altogether.  He  was  one  of  the  faculty.  Then  I  detected 
Reber  at  a  time  he  was  not  suspecting  anything.  I  knew  this  thing  was 
going  on.  I  was  satisfied  that  Reber  had  been  to  see  Beaver,  and  when  he 
came  back  I  asked  him  what  General  Beaver  had  said  to  him,  and  from 
what  he  told  me  he  admitted  he  had  been  to  see  him.  I  took  this  means 
of  laying  for  him  to  trap  him,  when  he  did  not  know  what  I  was  after. 
So,  when  Reber  saw  that  he  had  been  caught  up,  he  confessed  it  to  me. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

How  many  j)rofessors  were  against  you  at  the  college,  and  how  many 
were  favorablj'  disposed  towards  you  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortidge : 

Well,  I  do  not  know  whether  I  can  answer  that  question. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

We  want  to  know,  and  if  you  cannot  tell  us,  we  will  have  to  find  out 
from  some  other  person  that  does  know. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  think,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  during  that  investigation  of  the  board  of 
trustees,  every  member  of  the  faculty  bit  two  went  in  there  and  had  the 
same  story  to  tell — told  the  same  thing — ^that  is  what  1  was  told  by  one  of 
the  board  of  trustees ;  that  every  member  of  the  faculty  except  two  had 
a  set-up  statement  to  make  before  the  board ;  that  they  had  agreed  upon 
what  to  say  before  they  went  in,  and  as  one  came  out  and  another  went  in 
to  make  his  statement,  it  would  fit  right  in  where  the  other  had  lett  off, 
and  it  went  on  in  that  regular  way  until  they  had  all  said  what  each  one 
had  to  say. 

Bj'  Mr.  Mylin : 

What  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  told  you  that,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Mr.  Leonard  Rhone  said  that  to  me,  and  Victor  Piolette  told  me  that  they 
came  there  with  that  determination,  that  Hamilton  and  McKee  should  be 
removed,  and  it  appeared  from  the  way  they  treated  Victor  Piolette,  they 
were  a  little  uneasy  themselves.  I  will  give  you  this  for  what  it  is  worth. 
I  understand  that  they  had  put  a  bottle  of  whiskey  in  Mr.  Smith's  labor- 
atory, and  that  they  took  it  and  gave  it  to  Victor,  and  soaked  him 
thoroughly.  They  gave  him  that  and  took  all  the  starch  out  of  him,  and 
then  it  was  an  easy  thing  to  handle  him.  Now,  that  is  the  way  they  man- 
aged Piolette.  1  was  told  by  a  member  of  the  faculty  that  they  kept  him 
under  the  influence  of  whiskey  all  of  the  time  he  was  there ;  of  course, 
when  he  was  drank,  he  would  do  just  what  they  would  want  him  to  do. 
By  Mr.  Hall  : 

Who  were  the  two  professors  that  were  friendly  to  you,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ? 


210  Report  of  the  Committee.  TNo.  18, 

By  Mr,  Shortlidge : 
Protessor  Jackson,  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  Professor  Campbell, 
and,  1  think,  Heston  was,  but  I  would  not  like  to  say  ;  he  may  have  been 
on  the  fence,  ready  to  jump  either  way  ;  and  I  thought  Mr.  Reeves  was; 
I  thought  so  then,  but  1  would  not  like  to  say  he  was  now.  These  men 
wanted  to  hold  their  positions  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  were  going  to 
go  to  the  strongest  party. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 
Did  you  make  any  effort  at  all  to  get  them  out  of  their  position '( 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Mr.  Shortlidge,  will  you  tell  us  how  you  came  to  resign  or  sever  3'onr 
connection  with  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.    We  would  like  to  know 
what  you  have  to  say  on  that  point. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
I  handed  my  resignation  in  to  the  board  of  trustees,  and  made  them 
this  proposition  :  That  if  they  would  remove  Professors  McKee,  Hamilton, 
and  Smith,  I  would  not  resign,  but  that  I  had  intended  to  do  so,  for  I 
could  not  have  this  division  in  the  faculty  meetings.  The  meeting  was  a 
full  board  ;  there  was  a  quorum  of  the  board  of  trustees  there.  I  laid 
these  conditions  before  them  and  told  them  those  were  my  conditions  upon 
which  I  would  stay.  I  supposed  eveiy  member  of  the  board  talked  to  me 
about  it  that  was  there.  Poilette  talked  to  me  about  it.  General  Campbell 
talked  to  me  about  it ;  Piolette  and  General  Beaver  talked  to  me  about 
staying  there  then,  until  they  could  get  another  person  to 'take  my  place. 
They  talked  to  me  about  it  from  sometime  in  the  morning  until  two  o'clock, 
although  I  think  that  General  Beaver  wanted  to  get  me  out,  but  he  was 
afraid,  as  General  Beaver  then  had  his  eye  on  Governor  ;  there  was  a 
prospective  governorship  of  Pennsylvania.  He  either  wanted  me  to  go  or 
else  have  the  power  taken  out  of  my  hands, — tie  my  hands  for  me.- — so  as 
1  would  be  unable  to  do  anything,  and  then  have  Hamilton  and  McKee  to 
run  the  college,  and  then  when  he  was  elected  Governor,  then  he  would 
chop  my  head  otf,  as  he  did  not  like  the  idea  of  having  two  presidents  of 
the  college  resigning  in  one  year ;  he  knew  that  would  not  help  him  m  his 
gubernatorial  aspiration. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 
Mr.  President.  I  should  like  to  ask  Mr.  Shortlidge  why  that  resolution 
was  passed,  giving  to  him,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  entire  power  over  ever^^  person 
connected  with  the.college  and  on  the  farm — I  mean  the  resolution  of  June 
31,  l»8u? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
I  told  you  once,  1  think,  why  it  was  passed,  but  I  can  tell  you'  again.  I 
was  told  by  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  that  Hamilton  was  running 
the  college,  or  had  run  it  while  Dr.  Calder  was  president.  That  Ham.lton 
— that  is  the  gentleman  sitting  there — had  charge  of  the  experimental 
farms,  which  had  been  so  rery  unsuccessful  under  him  ;  and  he  was  also 
business  manager  of  the  college,  and  that  Dr.  Calder  was  not  to  do  any- 
thing towards  employing  and  paying  men  on  the  farms.  Hamilton  era- 
ployed  all  the  men  and  paid  them.  Now,  the  objectionable  feature  of  it 
was,  that  everything  was  done  by  Hamilton,  connected  with  the  State  Col- 
lege, all  the  business  transaction  with  the  college  or  anj'thing  in  the  wa}' 
of  advertising  the  college  was  had  under  Hamilton's  name,  and  still  the 
president  of  the  college  was  responsible  for  all  this  to  the  board  of  trus- 
tees, and  that  by  reason  of  all  this  authorit}^  given  to  Hamilton.     Now,  in 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College, 

order  to  keep  down  this  division  in  the  faculty  (and  I  was" 

this  trouble)  I  had  this  power  conferred  on  me,  knowing 

make  the  institution  a  success  it  was  necessary  for  it  to  have  a  responsible 

head. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 

Did  you,  in  introducing  the  resolution,  dictate  what  it  should  be  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

No  ;  I  made  some  suggestions. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Was  the  passage  of  that  resolution  part  of  the  promise  spoken  of  by 
you  at  the  beginning  of  j^our  testimony  ? 
'        By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

No ;  I  do  not  regard  it  as  a  part  of  the  promise  you  refer  to,  but  while 
the  board  of  trustees  wanted  to  stop  the  division  among  the  members  of 
the  faculty,  they  had  to  put  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  person  where 
it  belongsd. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 

Do  you  remember  whether  General  Beaver  was  present  at  that  meeting  of 
the  board  of  trustees  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

No,  sir ;  he  was  not  present.  He  did  not  know  it  until  I  told  him.  Then 
he  made  it  appear  that  it  was  not  according  to  law,  and  he  read  part  of  the 
law  to  me,  trying  to  convince  me  it  was  contrary  to  law  ior  the  president 
of  the  college  to  have  so  much  power  as  that  resolution  gave  me  ;  but  I 
got  the  law  and  read  it  myself,  and  there  saw  he  was  trying  to  impose 
upon  me,  as  he  did  the  people  at  West  Grove  meeting.  I  saw  that  the 
president  was  the  head  of  the  institution.  I  always  supposed  the  presi- 
dent of  a  college  was  the  head  of  the  institution,  and  I  thought  it  was  a 
queer  law,  if  it  was  not  the  case,  in  this.  I  found,  upon  reading  the  law 
in  this  case,  that  the  law  was  all  right,  and  that  General  Beaver  was  all 
wrong,  but  still,  after  Beaver  was  made  acquainted  that  such  a  resolution 
existed,  the  tight  between  the  faculty  and  the  president  continued  about 
the  same  as  before. 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Is  it  the  law  of  Congress  or  of  Pennsylvania  that  3'ou  refer  to  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

The  law  of  Pennsylvania. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Do  you  think  it  is  advisable  for  the  head  of  a  college  who  has  to  attend 
to  the  duties  of  it  which  legitimately  belongs  to  the  president  of  a  college, 
should  also  engage  or  employ  the  labor  for  the  experimental  farms,  or  have 
management  of  that  kind  thrust  upon  him  in  addition  to  his  duties  as 
president  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

No,  1  do  not  think  he  ought  to  maintain  his  supremacy  that  there  should 
be  no  one  engaged  about  an  institution  but  what  should  be  responsible  to 
the  head  of  the  institution. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Has  not  a  president  enough  to  do  in  running  a  college  without  devoting 
any  of  his  time  to  outside  matters,  such  as  this  would  be,  to  his  duties  as 
president  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

My  opinion  is  th.it  he  has  enough  to  do  there,  but  he  ought  to  have  other 
authority  there  to  make  those  understand  him  who  are  removed  from  him 
by  reason  of  the  remoteness  of  their  relations  or  positions  through  others, 


272  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

like  the  general  who  is  at  the  head  of  an  army.  He  has  authority  and 
power  over  the  private  soldiers,  yet  he  does  not  come  personally  in  contact 
with  thera.  He  transmits  his  orders  to  the  privates  through  his  subordi- 
nates, who  are  under  his  control  just  as  much  as  the  private  soldier  is.  I 
have  a  school  now  in  Delaware  county,  but  I  would  not  think  of  having 
anybody  around  there  that  would  not  be  subordinate  to  me. 

Q.  Could  not  the  authority  be  divided,  giving  the  president  authority  to 
be  commander-in-chief  over   the   faculty  and   college,  and   delegate   the 
authority  over  the  farm  connected  with  the  college  to  some  one  else  to 
manage  them  and  look  after  the  hands  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
1  do  not  believe  that  it  can  be  done  as  long  as  they  are  united  as  they 
now  are.     If  they  were  separated  they  could  be,  I  think. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
How  often  did  you  visit  these  experimental  farms  while  you  were  there  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge: 
I  never  visited  the  Western  farm  at  all.     I  was  at  the  Eastern  farm  once. 
I  understand  the  Western  farm   was  doing  nothing.     I  heard   they  were 
burning  up  fence  rails  for  fuel,  and  that  evervthing  was  going  to  sticks. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  ? 
Taking  into  consideration  the  duties  that  devolved  upon  you  as  profes- 
sor at  the  college,  how  much  time  would  you  have  to  visit  and  superintend 
the  experimental  farms,  one  lying  in  the  western  part,  one  in  the  central, 
and  the  other  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
1  would  not  have  much  time.     I  do  not  hold  that  it  would  be  necessary 
for  a  president  to  do  that,  nor  would  it  be  expected  of  him. 
By  Mr.  Mylin: 
I  see  by  this  resolution  that  even  the  ordinary  day  laborers  would  be 
subordinate  to  the  orders  of  the  president  of  the  college. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
I  will  explain  that,  sir,  if  you  will  allow  me.     While  Dr.  Calder  was  there, 
it  was  said  so,  at  least,  among  the  board  of  trustees,  that  if  Dr.  Calder 
wanted  a  man  to  do  the  most  trifling  thing  about  the  college,  and  he  would 
ask  the  farmhands  or  any  ordinary  laborer  around  the  college  to  do  it,  that 
man  or  hand  wouldn't  do  as  commanded  by  the  president  of  the  college, 
but  he  would  first  have  to  consult  Professor  Hamilton.     That  thing  was 
fully  discussed,  and  it  was  decided  by  the  board  to  give  me  full  power  and 
let  me  control  it  myself — make  me  the  head  of  the  institution,  as  it  should 
be. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 
Were  you  present  at  the  meeting  June  30th,  when  that  resolution  was 
passed  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
les,  sir;  I  heard  it  discussed,  and  was  present  when  it  was  passed. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 
You  had  not  assumed  your  duties  at  that  time,  as  we  understand. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Well,  I  do  not  know  about  that, either;  my  duties  commenced  on  the 
1st  day  of  June,  but  out  of  respect  to  Dr.  Calder  I  did  not  enter  upon 
active  duties  until  after  the  collegiate  year  had  closed.  He  had  been  there 
the  whole  year  preceding,  and  I  thought  in  justice  to  the  Doctor  he  should 
be  allowed  to  conduct  and  take  part  in  the  closing  exercises  for  that  year, 
so  I  acted  upon  that  idea  and  allowed  him  to  finish  up  the  term. 


Leg.  Doo.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  273 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Had  he  resigned  before  that  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
His  resignation  was  to  take  place  whenever  1  took  charge. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
On  the  1st  of  June? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
Yes,  sir,  I  suppose  it  did ;  his  resignation  must  have  taken  place  when 
I  took  charge,  for  there  could  not  be  two  presidents  at  the  same  time. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Then  in  June  he  was  there  by  your  solicitation  and  permission  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
I  requested  him  to  remain  and  finish  up  the  term. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
What  suggestion  would  you  have  to  make  about  the  management  of 
the  farms  so  far  as  it  affects  the  presidents  of  the  college  ? 
B3'  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
I  think  the  president  ought  to  be  at  the  head  of  everything,  authority 
to  control  everything,  although  he  should  not  be  allowed  to  do  much  but 
to  direct  what  should  be  done. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Supposing  the  president  did  not  know  much  about  farming,  could  he 
then  be  a  proper  person  to  direct  work  on  a  farm  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Then  I  do  not  think  he  ought  to  be  there ;  but  then  it  is  not  necessary 
for  a  man  to  know  much  about  farming  to  be  at  the  head  of  that  college. 
[Laughter.]     I  mean  by  that  because  he  has  not  much  to  do.     But  he 
could  employ  men  who  did  understand  the  business  of  farming   in  its 
details,  and  they  could  direct  the  work  on  the  farms ;  but  he  should  have 
the  authority  and  power  to  say  to  those  men  that  are  not  acting  properly 
what  to  do,  and  remove  them  if  necessary.     I  do  not  know  how  to  teach 
the  Chinese  language,  but  I  know  how  to  employ  a  man  that  can  teach  it, 
and  the  same  was  true  in  farming.     There  might  be  a  certain  part  of  it  I 
did  not  understand,  that  which  I  do  not  understand.    That  is  what  I  mean — 
that  men  can  select  men  to  do  these  certain  things  which  they  do  not  under- 
stand how  to  do  themselves.  ' 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 
Did  you  give  Mr.  Shelmire  any  directions  as  to  what  he  should  do  on 
the  Eastern  experimental  farm  while  you  were  president  of  that  institution  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Only  once  upon  consultation  with  the  executive  committee,  and  that 
was  with  regard  to  selling  off  the  stock  down  there.     General  Beaver  and  I 
talked  about  it,  and  about  sending  Dr.  Hamilton  down  there.     The  people 
down  there  were  very  much  down  on  Dr.  Hamilton,  and  we  knew  it;  and 
in  reply  to  the  suggestion  to  send  Hamilton  down  there.  General  Beaver  said 
you  might  as  well  send  a  dose  of  arsenic  down  there  at  once  as  to  send  Mr. 
Hamilton ;  so  we  contrived  a  plan  to  keep  him  away,  and  I  was  directed  to 
answer  what  Shelmire  wanted  to  know.     I  wrote  to  Shelmire  to  consult 
one  of  the  committee  that  was  down  there,  consisting  of  Milton  Conard, 
Benjamin  Swayne  and  Nathan  Sharpless ;  I  was  directed  to  do  this,  and 
whatever  was  thought  proper  to  do  Mr.  Shelmire  was  to  do,  without  con- 
sulting Hamilton  at  all. 
By  Mr  Mylin  : 
Did  you  give  any  orders  to  him  that  he  ought  to  ignore  his  contract 
with  the  college  ? 

18— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18.' 


214  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

No.     Well,  he  said  this  resolution  ignored  the  contra 3t. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

I  know  Mr.  Shelmire  said  so.  He  was  then  speaking  of  the  legal  effect 
of  it.  But  I  am  asking  you  whether  you,  at  any  time,  informed  him,  in 
any  way  whatever,  that,  by  virtue  of  this  resolution,  he  could  ignore  the 
terms  of  his  M^itten  contract,  made  with  the  business  manager  of  the 
college,  and  that  your  orders  were  paramount  to  anything  contained  in 
that  contract,  where  your  orders  might  come  in  conflict  with  any  of  the 
terms  of  the  written  contract  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

I  never  interfered  with  him  but  the  once  that  I  have  already  mentioned. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

How  often  were  you  there  while  Shelmire  was  superintendent  of  the 
Eastern  experimental  farm  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  was  down  there  three  or  four  times  while  he  was  there.  I  never  inter- 
fered more  than  I  had  to.  I  did  not  want  to  come  in  conflict  with  Hamil- 
ton, and  if  possible  1  did  not  want  to  do  it.  I  never  did  it  but  once  of  my 
own  accord.  There  was  a  political  meeting  at  Bellefonte.  I  think  Repub- 
lican mass  meeting,  and  the  boys  wanted  to  go  down  to  Bellefonte  to  the 
meeting.  I  told  them  that  would  not  do,  it  would  interfere  with  their 
farming.  They  probably  had  their  plans  made  about  their  work,  and  to 
disarrange  them  would  not  be  the  right  thing  to  do,  and,  more  than  that, 
the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  are  representatives  of  both  political 
parties.  I  told  him  it  would  be  impossible  to  allow  them  to  go  down  there 
with  the  college  teams ;  it  would  be  encouraging  one  political  party  to  the 
detriment  of  the  others,  and  the  students  belonging  to  the  opposite  party 
would,  by  rights,  have  to  have  the  same  privileges  accorded  to  them,  and 
it  might  be  utterly  impossible  to  concede  to  their  demands.  I  told  them 
to  go  and  see  if  they  could  not  hire  a  team,  and  I  think  I  told  them  I 
would  help  pay  for  it.  Well,  the  boys  came  back  and  reported  they  could 
not  hire  any  tram,  and  they  said  one  of  the  objections  I  offered  would 
not  be  good  now,  for  the  Democratic  boys  wanted  to  go  as  well  as  the  Re- 
publican boys,  so  they  cannot  bring  that  as  an  argument  against  you.  I 
was  rather  anxious  to  see  the  boys  go,  and  so  I  went  and  consulted  the 
farmer  about  it.  He  made  some  objection  to  it,  and  said  it  was  against 
Hamilton's  orders,and  that  they  had  some  grain  that  had  to  be  brought  in  that 
day  yet.  \yell,  it  was  then  been  three  and  four  o'clock,  and  it  was  a  question 
whether,  at  any  event,  they  could  get  in  the  grain,  or  whatever  was  to  be 
brought  in  that  day.  So  I  said  to  him, "  You  can  bring  in  that  grain  to-mor- 
row." So  he  me  made  another  objection,  and  said  he  knew  if  he  left  the  team 
and  wagon  go  there  would  be  some  fuss  about  it,  and  he  did  not  want  to  have 
a  fuss  with  anybody,  that  he  might  lose  his  position,  or  something  of  that 
kind.  I  left  him  then,  and  thought  the  l)oys  had  better  not  go  ;  but  the 
boys  would  not  let  up,  and  they  wanted  to  go  very  badly,  so  I  made  up 
my  mind  and  went  back  to  the  farmer  and  told  him  he  should  let  the  team 
and  wagon  go,  that  1  would  take  the  responsibility,  and  I  asked  him  if  he 
had  a  man  to  take  charge  of  the  mules.  He  said  he  could  not  go,  but  he 
says,  "  Yes,  there  is  a  man  to  go  along  with  them  that  would  take  good  care 
of  them."  And  they  went  and  come  back,  and  the  boys  had  a  good  time, 
and  no  damage  done  that  I  ever  heard  of;  but  Mr.  Hamilton  and  I  had  a 
dispute  about  it  the  next  day.  He  said  I  directed  the  team  to  be  taken 
off  the  farm,  and  I  was  charged  with  the  use  of  the  wagon  and  four  mules 
to  Bellefonte  in  my  account,  and  he  wanted  me  to  pay  for  it.     I  told  him 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  2t6 

no,  that  I  did  not  do  anything  Lut  what  I  had  authority  to  do.    I  referred 
him  to  this  resolution.     We  both  got  pretty  earnest  about  it,  but  there 
was  no  hard  words  used.    But  it  was  finally  stricken  off  the  charge  he  had 
against  me  for  it.    I  believe  that  was  the  only  time,  as  far  as  I  remember, — 
that  was  the  only  time  I  came  in  conflict  with  Hamilton.     Well,  on  the 
following  week  the  Democratic  boys  were  treated  in  the  same  way. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 
Well,  were  not  the  boys  who  were  Democrats  allowed,  a  few  evenings 
after,  the  privilege  of  going  to  a  Democratic  mass  meeting  in  Bellefonte, 
with  the  same  team  and  wagon  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
Yes,  they  were ;  but  Hamilton  let  them  go  that  time.     They  did  not 
come  to  me,  and  I  was  very  glad  they  didn't,  for  it  let  me  out  of  a  dilemma 
ver}^  nicely. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
Did  you  ever  have  any  serious  conflict  with  any  of  the  members  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  except  what  you  have  mentioned  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Nobody  but  General  Beaver.    The  rest  of  the  members  never  interfered 
and  appeared  to  be  friendl3^ 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
How  far  did  they  authorize  you  to  change  the  curriculum  of  the  col- 
lege ;  to  make  any  change  in  that  you  saw  tit. 
B}^  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
You  have  the  resolution  there,  you  can  see  for  j^ourself. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
But  I  want  to  know  your  understanding  of  it. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
I  do  not  know  that  it  had  reference  to  any  changes  in  the  curriculum  of 
the  college  ;  I  never  considered  it  had. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
What  suggestion  have  you  to  make  to  the  committee  in  reference  to  the 
management  of  the  college  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
In  the  first  place  I  say  that  $30,000  is  too  small  a  sum  to  run  the  col- 
lege ;  but  the  way  it  is  run  there  with  $30,000  there  are  not  as  good  results 
produced  as  are  in  the  colleges  or  in  the  best  academies  of  Pennsylvania 
which  are  self-sustaining. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 
Whose  fault  is  that  ?     Would  that  not  be  the  fault  of  the  instructors 
and  not  of  the  management  ?     I  see  by  the  course  of  study  as  laid  down 
it  is  pretty  thorough. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Part  of  it  is  the  fault  of  the  instructors.     There  are  some  of  the  men 
whom  I  consider  are  incompetent  to  fill  the  position  they  now  occupy,  and 
they  should  be  removed.     I  think  there  is  no  other  way  to  put  that  col- 
lege in  a  proper  condition  than  to  do  as  they  did  in  Minneapolis,  Minne- 
sota, and,  I  think,  as  they  did  with  a  college  in  Kentucky  about  a  year 
ago,  where  there  was  an  entire  change  njade  in  the  management  and  the 
faculty  of  the  college.     There  are  some  of  the  members  of  the  faculty  that 
should  be  removed  in  this  college.     They  been  there  too  long,  and  have 
become  a  kind  of  a  chronical  disease  to  the  college,  and  it  should  have  re- 
lief by  having  them  removed.     My  plan  would  be  to  make  the  college  a 
successful  institution,  to. put  out  every  member  of  the  faculty  that  is  now 


216  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

there, — some  might  be  engaged, — and  re-organize  the  whole  thing  ;  re-or- 
ganize the  board  of  trustees,  and  have  a  new  deal  all  around. 

Q.  Would  you  say  it  was  advisable  to  put  out  every  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

No  ;  there  are  some  of  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  that 
should  be  continued,  and  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  be  al- 
lowed a  compensation  for  their  services,  at  least  enough  to  pay  their 
expenses. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

How  about  the  faculty — would  you  remove  all  the  members  of  it,  or 
would  you  put  out  some  of  them  only  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

There  are  two  or  thiee  men  in  the  faculty  that  ought  to  be  put  out,  and 
there  ought  to  be  a  new  faculty  formed,  and  the  element  of  faction  de- 
stroyed by  putting  out  these  faction  men. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

What  seems  to  be  wrong  about  the  methods  of  instruction,  as  you  say 
some  of  our  academies  throughout  are  more  thorough  than  the  State 
College  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

It  is  not  so  much  the  method  of  instruction  as  it  is  some  other  things. 
The  opposition  you  meet  with  in  making  improvements  and  adapting  new 
ideas  is  what  keeps  back  the  progress  of  the  institution.  The  college  has 
got  into  old  ruts,  and  if  you  propose  anything  new  are  opposed  by  these 
persons,  who  have  become  fixtures  of  the  college.  I  never  made  a  propo- 
sition for  a  change  in  anything  that  I  was  not  opposed  by  these  men  that 
were  running  the  college.  You  never  could  succeed  in  anything  with  some 
of  the  men  that  are  in  that  college.  Their  policj^  is  either  to  rule  or  ruin 
it,  and  the  board  of  trustees  is  run  by  these  men,  through  General  Beaver, 
and  there  is  no  chance  of  a  change  being  made,  except  by  special  legisla- 
tion. 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

You  speak  of  persons  connected  with  the  college  whose  policy  is  either 
rule  or  ruin.     Do  you  mean  General  Beaver  when  you  say  that  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  had  reference  to  the  members  of  the  faculty  more  particularly,  but  I 
could  very  properly  include  General  Beaver  in  that  class.  That  is  his 
policy,  too. 

By  Mr.  Alexander: 

Mr.  Shortlidge,  to  come  down  to  the  naked  truth  in  this  matter,  are 
not  these  differences  between  you  and  the  faculty  and  General  Beaver,  as 
to  how  the  college  should  be  conducted,  a  matter  of  judgment  on  their 
part,  and  do  you  not  think  they  are  trying,  according  to  their  own  judg- 
ment in  the  matter,  to  do  the  best  thing  that  can  be  done  for  the  college  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  do  not  'know  what  it  is.  They  ha^^e  held  the  reins  of  government  so 
long  that  when  any  one  suggests  a  new  thing  he  is  met  with  the  strongest 
kind  of  opposition,  and  the  fact  that  they  do  do  this  is  an  evidence  of  their 
incompetency. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Are  there  any  of  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  that  receive  a 
compensation  for  their  services  in  any  way  ? 

A.  No,  there  is  not ;  and  in  that  there  should  be  a  change,  for  the  very 
men  that  would  take  the  most  interest  in  the  thing  are  not  able  to  pay  the 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  27T 

expenses.     There  should  be  something  that  would  induce  them  to  take  an 
interest  in  it,  connected  with  the  position  of  a  trustee. 
By  Mr,  Mylin  : 
Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  board  of  trustees  do  not  all  attend  to  their  duties 
as  they  should  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
There  are  two  or  three  men  near  the  college  that  go  there  and  do  the 
business,  and  they  do  it  as  General  Beaver  directs  them  to  do  it. 
By  Mr  Mylin  : 
About  what  is  the  proportion  of  the  number  of  trustees  that  generally 
attended  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
I  think  at  the  last  meeting  there  were  six  or  seven,  and  it  was  al)out  as 
full  a  meeting  as  we  had  while  I  was  there. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 
What  is  a  quorum  of  that  board  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
There  are  twenty-one  members  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
You  did  not  tell  us  what  all  you  had  to  do  outside  of  teaching,  Mr. 
Shortlidge.     Would  you  please  tell  us  about  your  other  duties  as  presi- 
dent ?     What  did  they  consist  of? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
As  i  understood  my  duties,  the^^  were  to  look  after  the  instruction  of 
the  college;  to  see  that  the  classes  were  properh^  conducted  ;  to  visit  the 
class-rooms,  and,  if  there  were  any  deficiencies  in  any  way,  report  them  to 
the  board  of  trustees.     I  remember  they  were  very  particular  about  that, 
as  they  said  Doctor  Calder  had  not  visited  the  classes  in  the  class-room 
and  they  were  very  particular  that  I  should  do  that,  and,  in  addition  to 
that,  see  if  anything  was  needed  outside,  report  it  the  board  of  trustees, 
and  anything  that  was  not  attended  to  by  those  who  had  authority  over 
the  college  building  and  farms,  and  report  whatever  came  under  my  obser- 
vation that  I  thought  was  of  such  importance  that  should  be  reported  to 
the  board  of  trustees. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 
Did  you  buy  any  of  the  stock  on  the  farm  there  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
No. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Did  you  make  any  purchase  for  the  farm  in  any  way  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
No  ;  I  had  very  little  to  do  with  the  farming  interest. 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 
You  approxed  the  bills  that  were  pi'esented  to  the  college  for  payment, 
did  you  not  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
No  ;  I  signed  the  checks  to  pay  the  bills  ;  the  approving  of  the  bills  was 
left  entirely  to  Mr.  Hamilton.  I  did  not  know  much  about  the  bills  ;  they 
would  come  to  me  appr^^ved  by  Hamilton,  and  I  would  sign  a  check  for 
the  amount  of  the  bill  on  the  First  National  Bank  of  Bellefonte,  where 
they  were  paid.  Some  of  the  persons  having  bills  would  come  to  me  direct ; 
I  being  president  of  the  college,  would  naturally  think  I  was  the  person  to 
go  to  ;  but  I  would  send  them  over  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  business  manager 
of  the  college,  who  would  approve  them,  and  I  Would  then  give  a  check 
for  the  same. 


278  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Had  you  anything  to  do  with  the  auditing  of  accounts  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

That  was  a  part  of  my  duty.     I  assisted  once  in  auditing  some  of  the 
accounts  on  the  Eastern  experimental  farm,  but  I  did  not  at  Harrisburg. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

What  was  your  manner  of  auditing  the  Eastern  experimental  farm  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

We  had  their  statement  there  of  debts  and  credits,  and  compared  them 
with  the  vouchers  they  held. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

These  vouchers  w^ere  in  the  shape  of  bills  and  receipts,  were  they  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Mr.  President,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  in  his  testimony,  which  he  gave  in  a  nar- 
rative form,  made  allusion  to  a  case  that  was  tried  in  the  courts  of  quarter 
session  of  Centre  county  against  Mr.  Haag  for  a  violation  of  the  liquor 
law,  wherein  General  Beaver  was  counsel  for  the  prosecution  and  the  law 
firm  of  Alexander  &  Bower,  of  Bellefonte,  of  which  I  am  one  of  the  mem- 
bers, were  counsel  for  the  defendant,  and  the  trial  of  the  case  resulted  in 
acquittal  of  Mr.  Haag  by  a  jury  of  twelve  men  of  Centre  county.  He 
intimated  that  in  the  conducting  of  that  trial  on  the  part  of  General  Beaver, 
who  was  for  the  college,  and  myself,  who  was  for  the  defendant,  especially 
General  Beaver  had  not  acted  honestly,  and  I  had  not  acted  fairly  towards 
Mr.  Shortlidge,  who  was  the  prosecutor.  Now,  I  desire  that  Mr.  Short- 
lidge should  be  more  explicit  and  put  himself  fairly  and  squarely  on  the 
record  as  to  what  he  means — whether  there  was  a  collusion  between  Gen- 
eral Beaver  and  myself  on  the  trial  of  that  case,  or  whether  he  puts  the 
blame  on  the  jury  of  twelve  men  of  Centre  county,  who  were  the  judges 
of  the  law  and  facts  in  the  case. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  say  that  them  men  were  on  that  jury  whom  General  Beaver  ought  to 
have  challenged ;  that  these  men's  sympathies  were  entirely  with  the 
whiskey-seller,  and  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  a  conviction 
with  these  men  on  the  jury;  and  1  say  General  Beaver  did  not  do  his  duty 
as  an  attorney  in  the  case  bj'  not  challenging  those  men  off  the  jury,  and 
I  told  Mr.  Alexander,  at  the  time,  that  he  had  not  acted  in  a  proper  spirit 
in  the  trial  of  that  case  towards  the  college,  and  had  not  treated  me  with 
due  respect  in  the  way  in  which  he  argued  and  made  his  speech  to  the 
jury. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Do  you  mean  to  say  that  in  the  management  of  this  whiskey  case  there 
was  any  collusion  between  General  Beaver  and  Senator  Alexander  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  have  given  you  the  facts  in  the  case,  which  plainly  shows,  and  you  can 
see  for  yourself  that  their  sympathies  seemed  to  be  with  the  whiskey  sel- 
ler, or  why  did  General  Beaver  not  challenge  a  single  juror  ? 
By  Mr.  Alexander: 

That  is  all  I  desire,  Mr.  Chairman ;  I  only  wanted  Mr.  Shortlidge  to 
place  himself  squarely  upon  the  record ;  I  will  only  add  that,  in  the  trial 
of  that  case,  as  in  manj'  others  in  which  General  Beaver  and  I  were  opposing 
counsel,  which  were  a  large  proportion  of  the  cases  tried  at  that  bar  for 
the  last  twenty  years.  General  Beaver  and  I  never  colluded  in  a  single  case  ; 
and  1  am  sure  that  General  Beaver  never  mentioned  the  case  to  me,  nor  do  I 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  2T9 

think  he  did  to  ray  pai'tner,  Mr.  Bower,  nor  I  to  him,  until  we  sat  down  to 
the  counsel  table  to  trj-  it ;  and  I  used  in  the  defenses  of  my  client  in  that 
cnse,  as  I  have  always  endeavored  to  do  in  all  other  cases,  due  fidelity 
toward  my  clients,  as  well  as  the  courts — and  done  my  utmost  to  acquit 
him. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 

How  did  you  come  to  leave  this  college,  did  you  resign  or  were  you 
invited  to  resign  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  asked  for  the  removal  of  Professor  McKee,  but  they  refused  to  remove 
him.  I  was  satisfied  that  as  long  as  Professor  McKee.  Professor  Smith 
and  Professor  Hamilton  were  there  I  could  do  nothing  thei-e  ;  I  had  been 
told  this  before,  and  I  was  now  satisfied  of  it.  Thomas  J.  Edge  came  up 
there  once  during  my  stay  there;  he  says,  "  From  what  Dr.  Calder  tells 
me,  Shortlidge,  you  can  never  do  anything  with  McKee  and  Hamilton 
here."  I  soon  began  to  see  that  myself,  and  that  he  ought  to  have 
placed  Professor  Smith  on  the  list  also.  I  found  out  the}^  were  not  my 
friends — at  least  I  was  satisfied  they  were  opposing  me  at  every  step ; 
although  Professor  Smith  had  professed  to  be  ver^^  friendly  to  me  when 
I  first  went  there,  and  told  me  that  I  would  quite  likely  have  hard  time 
to  get  along  with  Professor  McKee,  as  he  would  want  to  run  the  college ; 
I  just  came  to  the  conclusion  that  either  they  must  go  or  I  would.  I 
asked  for  the  removal  of  McKee.  I  never  asked  for  the  removal  of 
the  others,  but  I  was  lying  in  wait  for  their  removal,  and  would  have  had 
them  go  as  soon  as  I  got  rid  of  McKee.  I  found  that  after  I  had  asked  for 
the  removal  of  Professor  McKee,  that  General  Beaver  went  before  the 
board  of  trustees.  I  have  this  from  Victor  Piolette,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  board,  and  plead  with  them  not  to  remove  McKee.  Piolette  told 
me  they  were  going  to  remove  McKee,  General  Beaver  opposed  it,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course.  After  discussion,  it  was  decided  not  to  remove  him.  Pio- 
lette told  me  also  they  had  determined  to  remove  General  Beaver  at  the 
same  time  from  the  chairmanship  of  the  executive  committee ;  that  there 
had  been  charges  made  against  him,  but  the  General  plead  not  guilty  to  the 
charges.  I  believe  they  reprimanded  McKee  for  his  former  conduct,  and 
concluded  to  let  him  remain  ;  but  I  think  they  would  have  removed  him, 
notwithstanding,  had  they  not  soaked  Piolette  with  the  dose  in  Smith's 
laboratory ;  they  soaked  Piolette,  and  then  fixed  it  up  to  suit  themselves. 
After  I  heard  of  the  action  of  the  board  of  trustees  in  the  matter,  I  came 
to  the  conclusion  I  would  get  out  of  this,  and  I  offered  my  resignation  to 
take  effect  on  the  8th  of  July  ;  but  in  ray  resignation  I  had  slated,  and 
which  ought  to  appear  on  the  minutes,  "  that  I  saw  I  was  not  going  to  get 
justice  at  the  hands  of  the  board  of  trustees,  therefore  offered  my  resig- 
nation, but  I  peremptorily  refused  to  do  so.  General  Campbell,  he  came  out 
and  tried  to  induce  me  to  withdraw, but  I  told  him,  no;  I  told  him  that 
I  believed  that  what  I  said  in  my  resignation  I  believed  was  true,  and  I 
did  not  need  to  be  ashamed  of  the  truth  ;  I  was  told  that  unless  I  would 
take  out  that  part  of  it,  "  that  I  saw  I  was  notigoing  to  get  justice  at 
the  hands  of  the  board  of  trustees,"  they  would  square  my  accounts  with 
the  college  at  once.  I  did  not  want  to  say  anything.  I  thought  and  con- 
cluded I  would  not  say  anything,  but  they  saw  by  my  earnestness  that  I 
would  not  do  it.  Then  they  passed  a  resolution  accepting  my  resignation 
at  once. 

Q.  When  did  your  resignation  take  effect  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  had  written  my  resignation  to  take  effect  on  the  8th  of  July,  1881,  but 


280  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

my  connection  with  the  college  closed  right  away,  upon  the  passage  of  the 
resolution.  They  would  have  accepted  my  resignation  to  take  effect  on  the 
8th  of  July,  but  I  would  not  withdraw  the  objectionable  part,  as  the  board 
requested  me  to  do ;  consequently,  they  passed  the  resolution  closing  my 
connection  with  the  college  immediately. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
What  is  your  opinion  as  to  the  course  of  instruction  there? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
I  think  the  course  as  laid  out  is  a  very  good  one  ;  there  could  be  more 
efficiency  in  some  of  the  departments ;  there  is  room  for  that  in  some  of 
the  departments. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
What,  in  your  opinion,  should  be  done  with  the  college  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
I  believe  if  they  do  not  make  a  local  institution  of  it,  and  that  is  my 
opinion  what  should  be  done  with  it,  for  the  community  and  neighborhood 
needs  the  college  there  very  much,  but  if  the  State  can't  make  its  appro- 
priation for  a  local  institution,  then  I  think  the  college  should  be  more  to 
some  central  point  along  the  main  line  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad,  either 
at  Altoona,  Philadelpliia,  Lancaster  or  almost  any  of  the  points  along  the 
naain  line  ;  if  that  could  be  done  and  the  appropriation  increased,  I  beJice 
that  five  hundred  students  could  be  had  attend  it  in  a  very  short  time. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
You  mean  by  that,  that  the  college,  as  it  is  at  present  located,  is  inac- 
cessible ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  :  '' 

I  mean  if  the  State  can  afford  to  make  a  local  institution  out  of.  it  to 
do  so,  and  leave  it  where  it  is  now ;  but  if  the  State  cannot  afford  to  do 
that,  then  it  is  in  the  wrong  location. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 
Do  you  know  the  fact,  Shortlidge,  that  a  railroad  has  been  located,  and 
when  finished,  will  run  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  college  buildings  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Yes ;  I  know  that,  and  I  done  all  I  could  while  I  was  there  to  have  that 
railroad  put  through.     I  went  round  co  see  if  going  among  the  farmers — 
to  see — if  this  could  not  be  done  to  put  it  through,  but  they  said  they  had 
enough  money  in  it  already,  and  had  lost  what  they  had  in  it. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Coming  from  the  western  termini  of  that  road  from  Tyrone,  is  not  the 
railroad  complete  and  trains  running  daily  on  it  from  Lewisburg  to  Spring- 
mills  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

Yes,  sir  ;  I  believe  so,  but  Mr. ,  who  was  president  of  the 

road,  said  they  would  never  lay  afoot  of  track  through  until  the  farmers 
there  would  give  them  some  releases  for  the  right  of  way  or  something. 
By  Chairman  Mylin  : 
If  there  are  any  persons  here  who  desire  to  ask  Mr.  Shortlidge  any 
questions  before  he  leaves  the  witness  stand,  they  have  the  privilege  of 
doing  so  now,  as  the  committee  desires  to  make  this  an  open  and  fair  in- 
cvestigation  for  everybody  that  is  interested. 
By  Professor  Smith  : 
I  wish  to  ask  Professor  Shortlidge  some  questions,  with  permission  of 
the  committee. 

By  Professor  Shortlidge : 
I  object  to  questions  being  asked  outside  the  committee  ;  I  prefer  not  to 
answer  such  questions  unless  I  am  accorded  the  same  privilege. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennrylvania  State  College.  281 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
You  will  have  the  same  privrege  accorded  yon,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  if  jou 
desire  it. 

By  Professor  Smith  : 
I  wish  to  ask  yon,  Professor,  when  your  prej udices  against  the  members 
of  the  faculty  began  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
I  do  not  know  that  I  had  anything  or  prejudices  against  the  members  of 
the  faculty.     Now  you  asked  me  the  question,  I  am  going  to  ask  you  one. 
When  did  your  prejudice  against  me  begin  ?     Answer  that ;  j-ou  see  I  am 
going  to  give  some  heavy  shots  if  you  keep  on. 
By  Professor  Smith : 
Did  you  not  tell  me  in  the  evening  of  your  visit  to  the  college,  in  June, 
that  you  had  been  warned  against  certain  members  of  the  faculty,  and 
were  prejudiced  against  them  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir  ;  I  did  not  tell  you  I  was  prejudiced. 

By  Mr.  Smith : 
Did  you  not  tell  me  you  had  been  warned  against  certain  members  of  the 
faculty  ? 

By  M.  Shortlidge : 
I  might  have  told  you  that,  that  I  was  told,  and  it  might  be  I  told  you 
that.     I  submit  I  do  not  think  it  is  very  probable  I  told  you  I  had  any  pre- 
judice against  any  member  of  the  faculty.     I  do  not  think,  as  a  matter  of 
prejudice,  I  would  hardly  tell  you. 
By  Mr.  Smith : 
You  stated  you  took  about  one  fourth  the  students  to  the  college  when 
you  went  there. 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  sir  ;  I  did. 

By  Mr.  Smith : 
How  many  did  you  take  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Twenty-three  or  twentv-four. 
By  Mr.  Smith : 
.   How  many  did  you  take  away  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 
Well,  I  took  a  good  many  of  them  away.     I  don't  know  just  how  many 
of  them,  but  what  did  not  go  when  I  went,  left  at  the  end  of  the  term. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Do  you  mean  the  students  left  when  you  did  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  sir ;  they  went  right  out  of  the  college,  and  went  with  me  to  my 
school  in  Delaware  count3^     The  people  at  the  college  tried  to  persuade 
them  to  stay,  but  they  said  they  had  treated  me  meanly  at  the  college,  and 
they  did  not  intend  to  stay  there. 
By  Mr.  Smith  : 
Do   3'ou   think   it   was  proper  to  make  the  remarks  you  did,  and  use 
threatening  language  to  students  of  a  college,  as  you  admit  you  did  in 
3'our  testimony-in-chief? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge: 
I  think  it  was  proper  to  make  them  to  those  students. 

By  Mr.  Smith : 
Do  you  think  that  such  remarks  were  necessary  for  any  student  ? 


282  Report  of  the  Coiumittee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Only  to  those  students.     It  would  not  be  necessary  to  make  those  re- 
marks to  any  other  student. 
By  Mr.  Smith : 

What  authority  have  you  for  making  the  statement  that  Professors 
McKee  and  Smith  were  in  consultation  with  members  of  the  board  of 
trustees  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

I  stated  that  you  had  written  him  a  letter,  and  pretended  to  act  without  me 
in  the  faculty,  and  said  I  had  suspended  a  student  without  a  meeting  of 
the  faculty.  General  Beaver  admitted,  himself,  that  you  had  written  him 
a  letter. 

By  Mr.  Smith : 

Do  you  make  that  as  a  statement,  coming  from  General  Beaver,  that  I 
corresponded  with  him  in  that  manner  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

Yes,  sir ;  General  Beaver  admitted  it  to  me.  In  what  matter  do  you 
mean  ? 

By  Mr.  Smith  : 

In  the  matter  of  the  rebellion  you  refer  to. 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir  ;  General  Beaver  admitted  to  me  that  you  corresponded  with  him 
in  reference  to  that,  but  I  did  not  know  at  that  time  that  you  were  a  candi- 
date for  president  of  the  college.  'At  that  time  I  was  told  that  you  fought 
Dr.  Calder  for  that  reason.  1  spoke  to  you  about  Professor  Hamilton 
being  an  applicant,  at  the  time  I  visited  the  college,  and  you  said  he  was 

not  fit  for  the  position,  and  had  been  appointed  you  would  have 

By  Mr.  Smith  : 

What  authority  have  you  for  saying  that  Professor  Smith  was  an  appli- 
cant for  president  when  you  were  ? 
By  Mr.  Shortlidge  : 

I  got  it  from  one  of  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
By  Mr.  Smith  : 

Q,  At  what  time  was  that  application  made  ? 

A.  You  made  your  application  at  the  time  I  resigned. 

Q.  Will  you  state,  Mr.  Shortlidge,  who  the  members  of  the  board  of 
trustees  were  that  told  you  that  ? 

A.  I  think  Mr.  Rhone  will  testify  to  that. 

Q.  He  was  the  member,  was  he  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Who  has  been  acting  president  since  your  going  out  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know.  1  have  not  been  there  since.  I  think  it  was  a  great 
mistake  they  did  not  make  you  president  when  you  were  an  applicant  for 
my  chair.  I  advocated  your  election  at  the  time  I  learned  you  were  an 
applicant.  I  told  the  board  of  trustees  it  would  be  the  proper  thing  for 
them  to  do  ;  that  they  woukl  get  rid  of  you  pretty  soon.  You  and  Pro- 
fessor Hamilton  were  working  together,  apparently,  in  your  opposition  to 
me,  but  you  were  trying  to  cut  his  throat  for  the  presidency.  - 

Q.  You  stated,  I  believe,  the  grounds  upon  which  you  believed  I  was  in- 
competent, in  your  testimony  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you,  in  every  case,  in  the  class-room,  at  the  time  of  instruction, 
answer  every  question  that  is  put  to  you  by  the  students  ? 

A.  When  students  come  to  me  and  tell  me  I  have  certain  teachers  em- 
ployed who  talk  about  everything  but  the  subject  they  are  teaching,  and 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  283 

complain  that  they  do  not  get  the  information  they  desire,  and  then,  if  I 
happen  to  go  into  the  class-room  myself,  and  find  that  same  teacher  does 
not  answer  some  things  in  my  presence,  I  then  consider  that  teacher  in- 
competent. 

Q.  When  a  student  is  engaged  in  an  examination,  do  you  think  it  proper 
to  answer  a  question  in  such  a  way  as  will  enable  him  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion, in  class,  without  any  effort  on  his  part  to  inform  himself  of  it  by  the 
aid  of  his  text-books  and  own  judgment  ? 

A.  I  think  it  proper  to  answer  the  question  when  there  is  no  examina- 
tion being  had. 

Q.  The  case  a^ou  cite  was  a  case  of  term  examination  ? 

A.  No,  it  was  not  a  case  of  term  examination ;  it  was  a  class  examina- 
tion that  was  going  on  day  after  day. 

Q.  One  of  the  complaints  you  made  against  me  inj'our  speech  at  Media 
was  that  I  had  my  kitchen  carpeted. 

A.  No,  sir;  I  npver  said  such  a  thing.'    Where  did  you  see  that  ? 

Q.  In  the  published  report  of  your  speech,  in  the  Delaware  county  or 
Chester  county  paper. 

A.  Well,  it  is  not  true.  1  never  accused  you  of  that,  nor  of  any  ex- 
travagance except  in  the  building  of  the  house  in  which  you  exceeded  the 
contract  price  by  $1,-800. 

Q.  Did  you  make  the  statement  that  is  given  here  that  Professor  Smith 
has  built  a  house  through  General  Beaver's  favor  ? 

A.  You  said  that  Ham  Iton  had  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  that  he  did  not 
go  inside  of  the  house  while  it  was  being  built,  and  you  spoke  of  your  en- 
tire independence  from  him — that  you  were  entirely  outside  of  him.  You 
rather  triumphed  over  him,  and  the  onh'  thing  you  seemed  to  be  working 
together  in  was  in  opposing  me.  That  you  had  got  ahead  of  him  in  the 
building  of  that  house;  that  you  run  the  expenses  up  to  $1,300  more  than 
the  board  of  trustees  had  appropriated,  and  then  there  was  $600  of  this 
lien,  which  had  to  be  paid  in  addition,  making  the  cost  of  the  house  $1,900 
more  than  the  price  contracted  for.  And  while  you  may  not  have  exactly 
said  that  General  Beaver  permitted  you  to  do  this,  you  got  enough  en- 
couragement from  him  to  go  on  and  add  the  additional  cost  of  $1,300,  and 
you  should  not  be  stuck  for  it.  You  rather  boasted  that  you  had  the  in- 
side track  of  Hamilton  in  the  building  of  that  house,  and  he  could  not  re- 
strict you  in  anything,  although  he  was  business  manager  of  the  college. 

Q.  Did  you  make  the  statement  that  in  the  building  of  that  house  I  sac- 
rificed $2,900,  which  General  Beaver  ordered  paid  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  did  not  say  that.  I  said  you  didn't  confine  the  building 
of  that  house  inside  of  the  price  contracted  for — that  you  over-reached  by 
$1,900. 

Q.  Did  the  trustees  ever  appropriate  $5,000  for  the  building  of  that 
house  ?     Did  they  limit  the  appropriation  at  all  ? 

A.  I  did  not  say  so.     I  did  not  give  that  as  exactly  the  amount. 

Q.  Did  you  oppose  the  passage  of  the  bill  which  allowed  me  $1,202  and 
some  cents  for  expenses,  which  I  paid  for  myself,  in  the  building  of  that 
house  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  whether  I  was  there  at  the  time.  It  may  havg  been 
passed  at  the  first  meeting  I  was  there,  and  at  that  time  I  did  not  know 
^enough  yet  to  be  acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  college. 

Q.  When  you  made  the  assertion  at  Media,  in  your  speech,  that  I  re- 
tained my  position  by  favor  of  General  Beaver,  were  you  aware  that  I  had 
tendered  my  resignation  as  a  member  of  the  faculty  ? 

A.  You  may  have  tendered  your  resignation.     I  don't  know  that,  nor 


284  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

did  I  know  it;  nor  have  no  positive  evidence  of  it  now.  I  don't  know 
whether  you  are  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  college  now,  or  not.  If 
you  have  resigned,  I  think  it  is  a  good  thing  for  the  college,  that  is  all. 

Q.  You  stated  in  your  testimony,  Professor,  that  you  thought  the  head 
of  an  institution  should  have  the  power  of  selecting  the  teachers  and  men 
to  fill  certain  positions,  and  that  you  thought  if  you  were  called  on  to  fill 
them  that  you  were  capable  of  doing  so  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  and  I  i^ay  so  now.  I  have  some  very  good  selections  that 
I  have  made  as  precedents  to  establish  that  fact.  I  have  a  man  in  my 
school  now  that  is  a  first-rate  music  teacher,  and  I  am  no  musician  what- 
ever, and  do  not  pretend  to  be,  still  1  selected  an  excellent  man  to  do  that 
for  me.     I  think  I  have  the  capacity  to  do  that  kind  of  work. 

Q.  Did  this  proficiency  show  itself  in  the  selection  of  a  musical  teacher 
for  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  by  you  ? 

A.  I  selected  that  musical  professor  upon  the  recommendation  of  John 
Dodge,  of  New  York,  who  was  the  organist  in  an  Episcopal  church  in  New 
York.  Professor  Dodge  wrote  me  that  Professor  Haydon  was  all  that 
could  be  desired,  &c.,  and,  of  course,!  took  him  upon  the  recommendation 
of  one  of  the  best  musicians  of  New  York  city.  I  think  I  made  a  failure 
there,  but  I  did  it  upon  a  very  strong  recommendation.  The  appointment 
was  made,  and  he  had  the  qualifications  required,  but  he  got  drunk,  and 
that  destroyed  his  efficiency.  Even  then  I  went  to  John  Dodge,  and 
stated  the  fact  to  him,  that  our  professor  of  music  had  become  very  much 
intoxicated,  and  asked  him  what  we  were  to  do  about  it.  Mr.  Dodge  said 
that  he  was  not  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  Professor  Hayden  ;  that  all 
he  knew  about  him  was  his  musical  qualifications,  and  that  he  considered 
him  a  very  proficient  musician,  and  upon  his  qualifications  as  a  musician 
alone  he  recommended  him. 

Q.  What  part  did  you  have  in  the  selection  of  a  professor  for  the  chair 
of  agricultural  chemistry  ? 

A.  Professor  Jordan  was  very  highly  recommended  for  that  position  by 
Dr.  Caldwell,  of  Cornell  University,  and- was  very  highly  spoken  of  by 
others  who  knew  him.  1  was  very  favorable  to  his  appointment;  in  fact, 
he  was — owed  his  appointment  principally  to  me  ;  but  I  afterwards  found 
he  was  only  another  link  in  the  chain  to  keep  up  the  supremacy  of 
the  rebellious  power  in  the  college.  After  he  had  come  there,  I  found 
that  my  enemies  in  the  college  had  recommended  him  to  come  there  for 
the  purpose  of  helping  them  oppose  me.  I  saw  at  once  that  th  it  man 
came  there  with  prejudices  against  me,  which  originated  through  members 
of  the  faculty. 

Q.  What  facts  have  you  as  basis  for  opinions  of  that  kind  ? 

A.  Because  he  did  just  as  you  did.  He  ignored  me  whenever  he  had 
anything  to  bring  before  the  board  of  trustees  ;  but  would  go  to  Belle- 
fonte  and  lay  his  complaints  before  General  Beaver,  instead  of  presenting 
them  to  the  president  of  the  college,  who  was  the  proper  person  for  him 
to  have  dealt  with. 

Q.  Was  it  not  a  fact  that  the  other  members  of  the  board  of  trustees 
failed  to  come  there,  and  it  was  incumbent  upon  General  Beaver  to  do  the 
business  that  required  attention,  because  there  was  no  one  else  to  do  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  Was  there  any  other  trustee  who  lived  near  the  college  but  General 
Beaver  ? 

A.  Judge  Orvis  and  General  Beaver  lived  in  Bellefonte,  and  Leonard 
Rhone,  who  lives  at  Centre  Hall.     'They  were  members  of  the  board  of 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  285 

trustees,  and  were  also  the  executive  committee.     I  believe  that  General 
Beaver  wants  the  college  to  succeed,  but  he  wants  it  done  in  his  own  way. 
That  this  policy  of  the  board  of  trustees  is  either  to  rule  or  ruin,  and 
General  Beaver  is  the  board. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  On  what  do  you  base  that  charge,  that  General  Beaver's  policy  is 
either  to  rule  or  ruin  ? 

A.  That  has  been  my  experience  with  him,  sir. 
By  Professor  Smith  : 

Q.  At  what  college  did  you  graduate  ? 

A.  I  got  my  diploma  from  Yale  College. 

Q.  When? 

A.  I  got  it  in  1880. 

Q.  You  graduated  at  Yale  College  that  year  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  to  answer  that  question. 

Q.  I  want  you  to  answer  the  question.  I  want  to  show  the  committee 
that  you  never  graduated  at  Yale  or  any  other  college,  and 

A.  You  are  not  testifying  now.  Wait,  and  your  turn  will  come.  If  I 
decline  to  answer  a  question,  I  do  not  want  the  likes  of  you  to  answer  it 
for  me.     I  am  the  judge  whether  it  is  a  proper  question. 

Q.  Mr.  President,  I  desire  the  question  answered. 

A.  If  it  is  a  proper  question  I  will  answer  it. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

The  committee  think  it  is  a  proper  question  to  be  answered  by  you,  Mr. 
Shortlidge. 

A.  I  entered  Yale  College  some  years  ago,  and  was  troubled,  as  I  am 
now,  with  weak  eyes,  which  interfered  with  my  studies  very  much,  and  I 
was  also  short  of  funds,  and  on  account  of  financial  and  physical  disability 
I  came  back  to  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Pugh,  my  cousin,  was  then  president 
of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.  I  then  could  have  had  the  position  of 
professor  of  mathematics  of  Pennsylvania  State  College.  I  was  also  of- 
fered, about  the  same  time,  the  position  of  principal  of  Farewell  Institute, 
which  I  accepted,  and  I  think  I  got  about  $1,800  a  year.  Of  course,  I  felt 
as  if  I  had  got  a  very  good  thing.  I  had  no  money.  I  started  in  life  with- 
out anything,  so  I  staid  there  for  the  time.  I  met  with  very  good  success 
there.  I  then  went  from  there  to  Maplewood  Institute,  and  took  charge  of 
it.  But  during  all  this  time  I  continued  my  studies,  and  I  walked  as  much 
as  eight  miles  on  my  way  back  to  see  my  French  professor  when  I  came  to 
Philadelphia  on  business,  or  in  reference  to  the  studies  I  was  pursuing.  I 
took  a  degree  with  Dr.  Williams,  of  Philadelphia,  in  qualitative  and  quan- 
titative chemistry.  Keeping  on  in  this  wa}^  I  made  application  for  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  Yale  College.  I  did  not  succeed  the  first  time. 
I  continued  my  studies,  and  I  think  I  made  application  the  second  time 
for  the  degree,  and  showed  them  what  I  had  been  doing  and  offered  to  un- 
dergo an  examination,  and  I  made  my  third  application  in  1880, and  they 
gave  me  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  without  examination. 
By  Mr.  Smith : 

Q.  Was  that  degree  granted  upon  representing  to  them  that  you  had 
been  elected  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  ? 

A.  I  may,  of  course,  have  told  them  that  I  was  elected  president  of 
the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  although  I  gave  them  other  testimonials  in 
addition  to  that. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Do  you  consider  that  degree  as  an  honorary  degree,  conferred  by 
that  college,  or  not  ? 


286  Report  of  the  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

A.  You  may  place  it  whatever  way  you  want  to.  I  suppose,  of  course, 
it  is  an  honorary  degree.  An  honorary  degree  is  generally  unsolicited, 
while  1  solicited  the  conferring  of  the  degree  upon  me,  and  presented  eight 
or  nine  testimonials  as  evidence  of  competency  towards  obtaining,  and  I 
had  been  there  to  see  about  it. 
By  Professor  Smith  : 

Q.  1  want  to  know,  from  Mr.  Shortlidge,  whether  he  considers  he  can 
write  an  intelligent  business  letter  ? 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

I  don't  linow  but  what  some  of  these  questions  are  getting  rather  per- 
sonal, and  we  can  not  allow  personalities  to  be  indulged  in,  as  that  is  not 
what  we  are  investigating  here. 
By  Professor  Smith  : 

Q.  Did  you  make  application  for  this  position  of  president  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  College,  Mr.  Shortlidge  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  sent  in  a  formal  application. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  And  I  suppose  you  used  the  ordinary  influences  to  bear  upon  the 
board  of  trustees  to  secure  it  ?  Or,  in  other  words,  you  sought  the  posi- 
tion or  did  the  position  seek  you  ? 

A.  When  I  heard  of  the  vacancy  I  presented  my  name  for  the  position, 
and  it  was  offered  to  me ;  but  1  think  afterwards,  when  I  backed  out,  I 
learned  what  the  true  situation  was,  then,  I  think,  the  overtures  came  from 
the  other  side. 

By  Professor  Smith : 

Q.  Did  you  draw  any  salary  out  of  the  college  fund  for  yourself  and 
others  for  services  that  were  not  rendered  ? 

A.     What  do  you  mean  ?     I  don't  understand  j'ou  ? 

Q.  I  mean  for  services  not  rendered,  sir. 

A.  J  don't  know,  but  1  suppose  they  computed  my  salary  up  to  the  8th 
of  July,  1881,  while  I  left  on  the  8th  of  April,  1881.  I  was  not  there  for 
three  months,  for  which  I  was  paid.  1  suppose  that  is  what  the  gentleman 
means. 

By  Mr.  Hamilton  : 

Q.  What  grounds  have  you  for  believing  that  I  was  ever  an  applicant 
for  the  position  of  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College? 

A.  Mr.  Piolette  told  me,  sir,  that  you  were.  He  told  me  that  General 
Beaver  came  to  him  and  opposed  your  name.  Piolette  says  to  him, 
"  There  are  a  hundred  reasons  why  you  should  not  be  elected  president," 
and  General  Beaver  said,  "  Yes,  there  are  a  thousand  reasons  why  j^ou 
should  not."  And  it  is  about  the  only  time  that  General  Beaver  exhibited 
good  judgment,  for  that  was  true ;  3'ou  really  wei*e  not  fit  to  be  president 
of  any  college. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Was  this  the  time  that  "  Victor  "  was  in  the  laboratory  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  Piolette  said  it  occurred  in   Bellefonte  on  the  very  day  I 
was  elected.     I  understood  him  to  say  it  was  that  day. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Was  this  the  time  that  "  Victor  "  was  in  soak  in  Professor  Smith's 
laboratory  ? 

By  Mr.  Shortlidge: 

A.  No,  sir;  Piolette  said  it  occurred  in  Bellefonte  on  the  very  day  I 
was  elected.     I  understood  him  to  say  it  was  that  day. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  Statb  College.  287 

Miss  Belle  Shortlidge,  affirmed: 

By  Mr.  M3'lin : 
Q.  You  were  a  resident  of  the  State  College  at  one  time,  Miss  Shortlidge, 
were  you  not  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
A.  I  was ;  I  went  there  as  a  member  of  Mr.  Shortlidge's  family  when  he 
moved  there,  and  remained  there  until  the  time  of  his  coming  away,  which 
was  about  the  23d  or  24th  of  April,  as  you  have  already  heard.  I  was 
there  for  several  weeks  after  the  term  commenced  in  August  for  1880, 
which  was  the  last  Frida^^  of  August,  I  guess  ;  it  was  so  expressed  in  the 
catalogue  in  188".  I  was  there,  perhaps,  for  six  weeks  after  that  term  be- 
gan before  I  had  any  connection  with  the  college  as  an  instructor.  There 
was  then  made  vacant  a  position  which  had  formerlj^  been  filled  by  Pro- 
fessor Downy,  who  received  a  position  in  some  Western  institution,  and 
resigned  the  one  in  the  State  College.  While  he  was  connected  with  the 
college  he  had  under  his  charge  the  class  in  elocution.  Upon  his  leaving, 
there  was  no  one  to  take  charge  of  it,  and,  consequently,  left  without  an 
instructor.  Elocution  was  my  forte;  I  had  paid  much  attention  to  that 
subject  for  years,  and  took  great  pride  in  teaching  it.  Having  been  a 
member  of  Mr.  Shortlidge's  family  at  the  time  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  State  College,  and  it  being  necessary  for  me  to  go  along  with  him  at 
the  time  he  mo  /ed  to  the  college,  and  being  very  fond  of  teaching,  and  there 
being  no  other  way  to  entertain  or  amuse  myself,  on  account  of  it  being 
away  off  in  the  back-woods — way  from  society — taking  all  these  things 
into  consideration,  I  thought  I  could  not  do  better  than  ask  for  this  posi- 
tion, and  concluded  to  do  so.  Through  Mr.  Shortlidge,  application  was 
made,  and  I  was  appointed  as  an  instructor  of  elocution  by  the  executive 
committee  of  the  board  of  trustees,  which  was  afterwards  confirmed  by 
the  board  of  trustees.  I  took  my  position  as  teacher  in  elocution  in  the 
preparatory  department,  and  as  an  instructor  to  the  college  classes  in 
rhetorical  exercises.  They  had  their  rhetorical  exercises  in  their  literary 
societies,  in  which  they  were  required  to  be  drilled  for  such  exercises  in 
the  meetings  of  the  society.  I  had  charge  over  these,  in  addition  to  my 
duties  in  the  preparatory  department ;  so  you  will  readily  see  that  by 
these  means,  and  being,  at  the  same  time,  an  inmate  of  Mr.  Shortlidge's 
famil}^  I  had  an  opportunity  afforded  me  for  a  period  of  about  eight  months 
to  learn  and  know  something  about  the  working  and  management  of  this 
institution. 

By  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge  : 
I  had  some  experience  as  a  teacher,  and  I  have  come  in  contact  with 
some  of  the  best  educators  of  this  and  other  States.  I  have  gone  through 
some  of  the  best  institutions,  and  I  have  failed  to  see  any  so  poorly  man- 
aged as  this  institution  or  school  which  they  honored  with  the  dignified 
name  of  Pennsylvania  State  College.  But  1  would  state  that  although  I 
could  not  put  my  finger  just  on  the  facts  and  give  reasons  for  this  mis- 
management in  detail,  I  can  state  it  to  give  you  an  idea  of  it  that  you  can 
readily  understand  what  I  mean.  1  can  give  you  the  symptom  of  the  dis- 
ease, but  you  will  have  to  call  in  the  physician  to  prescribe  a  remedy  ;  but, 
be  that  as  it  may,  I  pronounce  the  college,  as  an  educational  institution,  a 
failure  ;  particularly  do  I  pronounce  the  preparatory  department  a  failure  ; 
I  pronounce  it  a  failure  both  as  to  the  instruction  of  children  morally  and 
intellectually.  This  I  might  state  more  specifically,  but  I  may  do  that  as 
I  proceed  in  saying  what  1  have  to  say  about  the  Pennsylvania  State  Col- 
lege. 


288  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No,  18, 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
I  understand  the  time  you  went  there  was  in  the  fall  term  of  1880,  and 
left  when  Mr.  Shortlidge  did  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
Yes,  sir.     I  was  connected  with  the  college  about  eight  months. 

By  Mr,  Mylin  : 
During  that  time  what  were  your  observations  as  to  the  management  of 
the  college  ?     We  would  like  to  have  your  ideas  on  that  subject  mere  par- 
ticularly. 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
With  all  due  deference  to  the  board  of  trustees,  who  pretended  to  man- 
age the  institution,  but,  in  fact,  the  institution  is  managed,  and  the  board 
of  trustees  controlled,  entirely  by  one  man:  General  Beaver  is  the  board 
of  trustees  who  manages  the  college  ;  and  1  would  say  that  it  is  very  badly 
managed.  The  management  of  the  college,  as  I  saw  it,  I  would  say,  with- 
out hesitation,  that  the  $3U,000  appropriated  by  the  State  are  wasted.  T 
cannot  let  this  part  of  the  college  go  by  without  giving  it  a  touching  notice 
as  I  pass  by.  I  cannot  let  the  money  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  be 
squandered  as  it  is  there  without  lifting  my  voice  against  it.  The  interests 
I  have  in  the  educational  affairs  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  to  see  that 
amount  of  money  taken  annually  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  public,  I  could 
not  be  constrained  to  be  silent  and  know  that  this  money  was  not  being 
applied  as  it  might  be  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  appropriated. 
Although  I  say  $80,000  is  a  small  sum  of  money  to  run  an  institution  as 
large  as  they  would  like  to  make  that  one,  I  do  not  think  any  man  could 
take  that  amount  of  money  and  run  an  institution  that  pretends  to  be  a 
first-class  college  in  ever}'  particular.  In  the  first  place,  1  do  not  think  it 
was  contemplated  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  make 
the  institution  a  first-class  college — such  a  one,  at  least,  as  they  have  been 
endeavoring  to  make  out  of  this  one,  but  which  the  results  show  that  they 
have  come  far  short  of.  So  far,  they  have  been  unable  to  make  it  even 
equal  to  a  first-class  academy  or  a  first-class  school.  I  am  not  exaggerating 
when  I  say  that  the  junior  and  senior  classes  of  that  institution  could  not 
compete,  and  could  not  be  compared  with,  the  students  who  graduate  at 
our  first-class  academies,  or  even  with  the  classes  of  some  of  our  public 
high  schools.  Perhaps  the  want  of  money  had  something  to  do  with  that ; 
but  the  management  of  the  college  is  not  excusable  for  trying  to  carry  on 
an  institution  for  doing  that  for  which  they  have  not  means  or  authority  to 
do.  But  the  great  trouble  in  that  institution  was,  I  think,  that  arises 
from  dissensions  in  the  faculty.  About  my  personal  relations  about  the 
college  I  have  very  little  to  say  that  is  objectionable.  I  think  the  institu- 
tion was  crippled  in  ever}'  way  by  influences  which  I  consider  obnoxious 
and  ruinous  to  any  institution.  When  I  say  this,  I  hope  you  will  remember 
that  I  am  speafe  ing  of  the  college  as  an  institution  of  learning,  and  in  view 
of  its  moral  surroundings,  and  I  make  the  assertion  that  I  do  make  based 
upon  facts.  I  went  to  the  institution  feeling  a  great  interest  in  its  success; 
first,  because  it  was  an  institution  maintained  by  the  State  ;  and,  secondly, 
my  cousin  was  president  of  it ;  and  I  heard  a  great  deal  about  it  as  having 
been  very  unsuccessful  in  the  past,  and  having  a  very  unenviable  reputa- 
tion. I  was  very  anxious  that  it  should  succeed,  because  I  was  very  much 
interested  in  the  educational  interests  of  the  State.  I  was  satisfied  that 
the  institution  was  laboring  under  a  great  disadvantage  by  having  the 
preparatory  department  connected  with  it  soon  after  I  came  there.  The 
preparatory  department  ought  to  have  done  more  than  what  it  did.  I 
thought,  at  first,  that  the  professor  and  principal  in  the  preparatory  depart- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  289 

ment  labored  faithfully  to  do  what  he  could,  and  I  saw  that  there  was  a 
great  number  of  students  in  that  department,  and  that  he  had  more  than 
lie  could  attend  to.  The  department  was  crippled  in  various  wa^-s  by  dis- 
order and  confusion,  and  the  facilities  for  instruction.  I  tried  to  confer 
with  liim,  to  help  him  out  of  his  difficulty,  as  it  was  my  duty  to  do  as  his 
subordinate,  and  I  agreed  to  take  classes  in  addition  to  what  I  already  had. 
I  wanted  to  do  something  to  help  along  the  institution,  and  that  was  the 
reason  that  I  was  employed  in  the  first  place  to  teach  elocution.  He  told 
me  that  he  was  scarce  of  teachers,  and  he  did  not  know  how  to  arrange 
matters  in  his  department  so  as  to  do  justice  to  the  students,  unless  he 
could  get  additional  help.  I  told  him  I  had  some  unemployed  time  that  I 
would  be  very  glad  to  devote  to  some  additional  teaching  to  what  I  already 
had,  and  said,  further,  that  if  he  would  entrust  me  with  some  of  it,  I  would 
be  very  glad  to  assist  him.  I  wanted  to  help  him  bring  out  his  depart- 
ment ;  and,  from  the  prospects  that  were  there,  and  knowing  what  could 
be  done  by  our  combined  efforts,  I  really  grew  enthusiastic  over  it.  I  saw 
that  if  we  worked  together,  even  with  the  limited  facilities  we  had,  we 
could  make  that  department  a  success.  After  consulting  with  him  on  the 
subject,  he  agreed  to  give  me,  and  I  consented  to  take,  in  addition  to  what 
1  already  had,  a  grammar  class  in  his  department.  I  did  all  I  could  to 
help  to  make  his  department  successful,  and  I  believe  we  would  have  suc- 
ceeded had  he  been  true  to  himself. 

I  felt  at  the  time  when  I  was  working  with  this  man  that  he  was  all  that 
he  represented  himself  to  be,  but  all  to  my  sorrov  one  thing  after  another 
came  out  showing  that  he  was  not  as  true  at  heart,  and  not  as  earnest  about 
his  work  as  he  would  have  had  me  suppose  him  he  was.  I  was  satisfied 
after  having  been  there  five  months  that  all  I  tried  to  do  would  be  labor  in 
vain.  1  saw  that  the  great  trouble  was  the  internal  dissensions  and  bick- 
ering among  the  faculty,  that  the  president  of  the  college  and  the  majority 
of  the  members  of  the  faculty  did  not  work  harmoniously  together.  But 
I  thought  I  could  surmount  all  these  so  far  as  myself  was  concerned.  I 
wanted  to  convince  the  people,  and  have  them  see  that  I  was  interested  in 
the  institution,  that  it  would  be  to  their  interest  to  have  me  there.  I 
wanted  to  so  carry  myself  that  they  would  realize  that  the  teaching  was  a 
matter  that  I  was  interested  in,  and  that  their  opposition  was  of  minor  im- 
portance to  me.  1  already  said  that  there  was  a  quarrel  there  among  the 
faculty ;  this  quarrel  was  continued  from  Dr.  Calder's  administration. 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  faculty  were  constantly  carrying  reports  to 
me  of  this  quarrel,  but  I  did  not  care  to  know  anything  about  it ;  in  fact, 
I  would  have  been  far  more  content  had  I  known  nothing  at  all  about  it. 
I  told  them  on  several  occasions  that  1  wished  they  would  not  bring  this 
matter  to  me,  that  I  knew  enough  of  this  quarrel,  and  more  than  that  I 
did  not  want  to  know  anything  about  it,  and  in  that  way  I  tried  to  steer 
clear  of  all  prejudices.  I  satisfied  myself  after  being  there  for  five  or  six 
months  that  all  quarrelings  and  bickerings  among  the  faculty,  and  between 
the  president  and  the  members  of  the  faculty,  was  a  great  impediment  in 
my  success  there  as  a  teacher  and  I  wanted  to  do  something  to  counteract 
this.  I  was  not  admitted  to  the  meetings  of  the  faculty,  because  I  did  not 
fill  a  regular  chair  in  the  institution.  I  applied  for  admission  and  for  a 
seat  in  the  faculty,  where  I  could  express  my  views  on  the  subject  on  which 
I  was  personally  interested,  in  regard  to  teaching  in  the  preparatory  de- 
partment. But  I  was  secluded,  and  said  to  Mr.  ShorLlidge,  who  was  pres- 
ident of  the  faculty,  that  if  you  remain  here  another  year  I  would  not 
teach  in  the  institution.  I  told  him  I  was  satisfed  that  my  teaching  here 
is  not  appreciated,  that  there  was  an  opposing  element  here  to  the  presi- 
ly— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


290  Report  op  the  Committee.  fNo.  18, 

dent  of  the  faculty  and  the  elements  are  too  strong  to  overthrow,  and 
when  there  are  elements  in  opposition  to  you  strong  as  this  one  is  3'ou 
might  as  well  bump  your  head  against  a  stone  wall  as  to  try  to  fight  it. 
There  was  such  a  strong  feeling  there  against  the  president  of  the  col- 
lege by  members  of  the  faculty,  that  they  even  refused  to  return  my  salu- 
tations when  I  would  meet  them  on  the  walk  in  going  to  or  from  the  class- 
room. I  could  contribute  this  to  nothing  else  but  their  enmity  to  the 
president  of  the  college,  and  it  was  extended  to  me  because  he  was  a  kins- 
man of  mine.  This  is  personal,  of  course,  but  it  is  not  worth  while  to 
stop  and  discuss  of  whom  the  discount  comes  off.  There  was  the  strongest 
kind  of  prejudice  against  him  among  certain  members  of  the  faculty  who 
did  everything  in  their  power  to  oppose  him,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
this  feeling  extended  more  or  less  towards  me,  and  I  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to 
be  out  of  it. 

I  felt  very  much  discouraged  with  these  surroundings.  I  could  not 
teach  in  the  manner  satisfactory  to  myself  because  of  the  want  of  coopera- 
tion with  the  faculty.  I  saw  that  there  was  not  a  particle  of  management 
in  the  preparatory  department,  and  because  I  was  excluded  from  the  meet- 
ing of  the  faculty,  I  was  utterly  powerless  to  make  an  impression.  The 
results  showed  this  at  the  examinations.  They  were  required  to  have  a 
full  hour  for  recitations,  but  on  account  of  the  unsystematic  management 
of  it  they  only  got  from  twenty  minutes  to  half  an  hour.  So  there  was 
one  half  of  their  time  wasted.  The  reason  of  this  was,  that  they  never  had 
their  lessons  prepared  when  they  came  to  the  class-room  for  recitation, 
and,  consequently,  they  had  to  spend  just  half  their  time  in  getting  their 
lessons.  The  time  that  they  should  have  occupied  in  the  preparation  of 
their  lessons  they  spent  in  running  through  the  hall  and  around  the  college 
grounds,  and  such  disorder  as  you  can  conceive  they  made.  This  was 
every  day  and  every  day,  and  the  results  of  it  all  was,  that  nothing  was 
accomplished.  I  considered  it  a  gross  waste  of  time  and  money.  The 
blame  of  all  this  1  laid  on  the  quarrelings  and  t3ickerings  of  the  faculty. 
I  do  not  think  that  these  bickerings  and  quarrels  between  the  members  of 
the  faculty  and  the  president  of  the  college  were  going  on  for  less  than 
twelve  months,  but  I  think  they  have  been  going  on  for  the  last  decade, 
and  have  had  more  to  do  with  the  institution  being  unsuccessful  than  the 
want  of  funds  or  anything  else. 

The}'  existed  during  Dr.  Calder's  term,  and  I  say  here,  without  fear  of 
contradiction,  that  they  had  not  their  advent  with  the  coming  of  Mr. 
Shortlidge  when  he  became  president  of  the  institution.  There  are  mem- 
bers of  that  faculty  who  should  be  removed.  They  have  been  there  for  so 
long  a  time  that  they  think  everything  must  be  done  that  they  dictate. 
The  institution  was  gotten  into  a  rut  by  having  attached  to  it  these  per- 
sons, and  whose  ideas  are  unprogressive  and  far  behind  the  day,  and  I  say 
this,  that  unless  that  element  of  rule  and  ruin  is  removed  from  that  college 
so  long  will  that  institution  continue  to  be  a  failure  that  it  is  to-day. 

If  the  time  ever  comes  that  a  power  will  arise  strong  enough  to  eradicate 
that  element  of  dissension  and  wipe  it  out  of  existence,  then  there  will  be 
an  opportunity  afforded  for  revolutionizing  the  institution  and  introducing 
new  machiner}'^,  and  it  may  then  be  made  a  success  as  a  local  institution. 
I  said  I  was  secluded  from  the  faculty  meeting.  I  was  not  considered  a 
member  of  the  faculty  because  I  did  not  fill  a  regular  chair ;  that  was  the 
ground  upon  which  I  was  kept  out.  I  wanted  to  be  a  member  of  the  fac- 
ulty because  I  had  been  a  teacher  long  enough  ;  that  there  was  a  proper 
place  to  bring  up  matters  connected  with  the  system  of  teaching.  I  had 
an  ax  to  grind.     I  wanted  to  get  at  that  preparatory  department,  to  make 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  291 

suggestions,  and  see  if  I  could  not  have  the  faculty  adopt  them.  I  thought 
that  if  a  woman  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  that  facult}',  that  not  only 
some  of  the  things  connected  with  the  preparatory  department  but  with 
the  college  proper,  might  be  straightened  out.  Some  of  the  members  were 
favorable  to  it,  but  the  majority  overruled  them,  so  I  had  to  remain  out. 
I  would  gain  admission  sometimes  to  the  meeting  of  the  faculty,  but  if  I 
did  make  any  suggestions  or  remarks,  they  never  had  any  effect,  because,  I 
was  told,  I  was  not  a  member  of  the  faculty,  and  had  no  right  to  make  any 
suggestions.  I  felt  that  I  had  a  right  to  be  admitted  to  the  faculty,  be- 
cause the  teaching  that  I  had  done  was  important,  and  I  had  a  right  to  the 
views  of  the  othef  members  of  the  faculty"  in  reference  to  what  I  was  teach- 
ing, and  I  felt  I  had  a  right  to  express  my  views  in  connection  with  the 
preparator}'  department.  I  was  present  a  few  times  in  the  meeting  of  the 
facult}' ;  but  on  one  occasion  when  the  president  of  the  faculty  was  absent, 
and  I  think  the  vice-president  also,  I  went  into  the  faculty  meeting,  and  I 
was  ignored  altogether.  I  think  it  was  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  board 
of  trustees  at  Harrisburg,  which  Mr.  Shortlidge,  in  his  testimon3',  has  de- 
tailed to  you.  You  can  no  doubt  see  why  I  was  anxious  to  be  in  the 
faculty  meeting.  I  was  very  anxious  to  bring  out  that  department  of  the 
college,  and  the  way  things  were  going  on  I  saw  that  it  was  retrograde 
instead  of  progi-essing.  I  was  desirous  of  helping  along  the  principal  of 
the  preparatory  department,  and  if  I  was  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the  faculty 
I  could  do  so  at  a  much  better  advantage.  I  thought  perhaps  also,  if  a 
woman  were  admitted,  there  were  a  few  things  more  particular  of  a  moral 
character  that  might  be  straightened  out. 

Q.  Was  there  no  woman  in  the  faculty  at  all  at  this  time  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  there  was.  She  was  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  faculty.  She 
was  the  principal  of  the  young  ladies'  department.  I  went  to  the  faculty 
meeting  again  and  again,  but  they  would  never  recognize  mj-  right  there. 
I  saw  it  was  utterl}^  useless  in  attempts  to  get  recognition  at  the  hands  of 
the  majority  of  the  members  of  that  faculty.  There  was  one  case  in  par- 
ticular that  I  desired  to  bring  before  the  faculty.  I  had  a  class  of  thirty- 
two  in  elocutioa  in  the  preparatory  department,  and  there  was  one  little 
urchin  who  annoyed  the  class  very  much.  I  referred  the  matter  to  the 
principal  of  the  preparatory  department,  who  referred  me  to  the  faculty. 
I  wanted  him  to  expel  the  student,  but  he  said  he  was  powerless  to  do  any- 
thing. I  therefore  made  application  to  the  faculty  for  a  hearing,  but  I  was 
refused  it. 

Q.  Did  they  never  give  you  a  hearing  before  the  faculty  at  all  ? 

A.  The}'  never  recognized  anything  I  said,  I  suppose  if  I  would  have 
gotten  up  a  petition  with  signers  to  it,  and  gone  through  with  a  great  deal 
of  red  tape,  I  might  have  had  some  of  my  grievances  acted  upon  by  the 
faculty ;  but  that  was  something  I  had  no  right  to  do,  for  I  considered  I 
was  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  meeting  of  the  faculty. 

.    By  Professor  Shortlidge  : 

Am  I  permitted  to  ask  a  question  here  ? 
By  Chairman  Mylin  : 

Yes,  sir  ;  certainly. 

B}'  Professor  Shortlidge : 

Was  there  not  an  appeal  made  that  you  be  permitted  to  be  present  at,  and 
take  part  in,  the  meeting  of  the  faculty,  and  was  it  not  objected  to  by  the 
opposing  element  to  me  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

Yes,  sir ;  it  was.  I  found  that  the  feeling  in  the  faculty  was  too  strong 
against  m}'  admission,  and  the  element  that  opposed  my  admission  to  the 


292  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

faculty  was  the  element  of  prejudice  against  the  president  of  the  college; 
so  I  left  the  matter  rest  for  the  time,  and  thought  that,  perhaps,  when 
the  white  heat  of  this  trouble  was  over,  there  would  be  no  objection 
to  me  being  present  at  the  faculty  meeting,  and  express  my  views  on  the 
various  questions  which  are  pi-operly  brought  before  the  faculty  meeting. 
On  this  occasion,  when  the  president  of  the  faculty  was  absent,  and  at  a 
time  1  was  ignored  altogether,  I  did  not  feel  very  agrepable  at  the  treat- 
ment I  had  received,  which  they  seemed  to  impose  on  me  when  my  kins- 
man, the  president  of  the  college,  was  absent  or,  in  other  words,  the}'  took 
advantage  of  his  absence  in  keeping  me  out  of  the  faculty.  "And  like 
somebody's  wife,  1  nursed  m^^  wrath  to  keep  it  warm."  I  did  not  tell  the 
president  of  the  faculty  of  this,  and  thought  I  could  settle  it  myself  I 
went  repeatedly  after  that  to  have  my  wrongs  redressed,  by  seeking  ad- 
mission to  the  meeting,  perhaps,  fourteen  times,  and  fourteen  times  I 
found  the  opposing  element  too  strong  for  me ;  so  the  meeting  of  the 
faculty  always  remained  a  sealed  book  to  me.  I  laid  my  complaint  before 
the  investigating  committee  that  was  sent  there,  but  without  avail. 

Q.  Was  that  the  committee  of  the  Legislature  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  it  was  the  committee  of  the  board  of  trustees,  appointed  at 
the  instance  of  the  president  of  the  college,  for  the  purpose  of  having 
Professor  McKee  removed,  but  that  committee  was  the  same  as  the  board 
of  trustees,  and  was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  controlled  by  General  Beaver, 
and  it  was  more  for  the  purpose  of  whitewashing  than  anything  else,  and 
merely  went  through  the  form  of  making  an  investigation. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Q.  You  believed  that  the  committee  knew  what  they  were  to  report  be- 
fore they  went  there  to  make  their  investigation — appointed  as  a  matter  of 
form  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  did  believe  it  to  be  a  matter  of  form  and,  as  I  realized  after- 
wards, that  it  was  a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  paving  the  way 
for  something  else.  I  must  say  I  was  rather  favorably  prejudiced  towards 
the  college  as  an  institution  of  learning,  at  first,  and  wrote  several  letters  to 
the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  recommending  it  as  a  good  place  to  receive  an 
English  education.  I  stated  what  I  considered  its  advantages  were,  but 
before  I  had  been  there  long,  1  found  that  I  had  been  guilty  of  gross  mis- 
representation of  the  facts.  I  wish  also  to  hold  myself  responsible  for 
having  imposed  upon  my  friends  by  writing  those  letters. 

The  facilities  for  obtaining  an  education  are  anything  but  what  they 
should  be.  The  equipments  with  which  the  college  is  supplied  are  miser- 
ably poor.  There  is  nothing  in  the  laboratory  of  any  value,  and  what  ma- 
terial is  in  the  possession  of  the  college  is  worthless,  and  I  consider  it  good 
for  nothing.  I  do  not  make  this  assertion  from  mere  prejudice,  but  of 
what  I  actually  have  seen.  1  saw  it  myself,  and  know  that  the  facts  are  as 
1  have  stated  them.  And  they  are  satisfied  to  take  in  the  college  any  stu- 
dent that  applies,  whether  they  are  qualified  to  enter  any  of  the  classes  in 
the  institution  or  not. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Did  you  say  that  they  do  not  require  students  to  pass  an  examination 
to  enter  into  the  college  proper  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

No,  sir ;  I  do  not  think  that  they  are  required  to  pass  an  examination  to 
enter  the  preparatory  department,  and  after  they  pass  sometime  in  the 
preparatory  department  they  are  admitted  to  the  college  classes  then,  I 
think,  without  passing  an  examination,  and  I  say,  without  fear  of  contra- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  Colleqe.  293 

diction,  that  there  are  public  schools,  under  the  system  of  public  schools 
in  this  grand  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  that  are  far  superior  to  the 
preparatory  department  of  that  institution.  Children  coming  to  that  col- 
lege who  should,  at  the  age  they  were,  be  better  cultured,  and  who  were  so 
deficient  in  the  principal  rudiments  of  an  English  education  that  they 
could  not  write  an  ordinary  English  sentence  correctly.  Many  of  the 
3"oung  men  that  were  in  the  Freshmen  and  Sophomore  classes  in  that  in- 
stitution did  not  acquire,  in  their  attendance  there,  the  first  elements  of  a 
thorough  English  education.  I  know  young  men  who  have  attended  some 
of  the  best  academies,  who  would  put  to  shame  the  average  student  in  the 
Sophomore  class  in  the  institution  which  3'our  committee  is  now  investi- 
gating. The  standard  of  the  institution  is  very  low. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

How  about  the  Junior  and  Senior  classes  of  the  college — do  or  do  they 
not  compare  favorabl3'  with  the  other  colleges  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

"Well,  from  my  knowledge  of  the  institution,  I  am  constrained  to  say 
they  do  not.  There  was  one  student  that  was  a  senior  while  I  was  there 
that  could  not  correct  a  sentence  in  false  syntax.  Of  course,  there  were 
some  worthy  men  there,  who  studied  hard  and  did  a  great  deal  of  thinking 
for  themselves,  and  in  that  way  attained  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  in  their 
studies  ;  but  that  was  more  the  result  of  their  own  industry  and  perse- 
verance than  the  result  of  the  facilities  that  the  institution  afforded  to  them 
for  pursuing  their  studies  and  completing  their  education.  Students  had 
not  the  facilities  there  for  pursuing  anj'  course  of  reading,  either  classical 
or  scientific,  in  connection  with  their  studies.  They  had  no  books  of  ref- 
erence but  their  text-books,  and,  in  consequence  of  that,  labored  under 
great  disadvantage. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

You  were  a  teacher  in  the  preparatory  department  only  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge: 

Nb,  sir ;  I  also  taught  classes  in  rhetoric  in  the  college  classes.     I  drilled 
them  for  their  rhetorical  exercises  in  their  literary  societies,  and  had  a 
great  opportunity  of  ascertaining  and  knowing  what  the  element  was  that 
composed  the  college. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Have  you  been  a  teacher  for  some  time,  Miss  Shortlidge  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

I  have  been  a  teacher  for  seventeen  years,  and  I  had  largely  to  do  with 
the  organization  of  classes,  and  I  made  that  part  of  the  teacher's  require- 
ments a  specialty.  I  have  taken  very  much  interest  in  it.  I  have  labored 
hard  to  fit  myself  lor  special  branches  in  teaching,  and  have  selected  elo- 
cution and  mathematics  as  that  specialty. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

Do  you  think  the  college  proper  is  made  too  much  of,  to  the  disadvan- 
tage of  the  pi-eparatory  department  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Well,  I  think,  of  course,  that  the  college  proper  takes  too  much  money 
to  run  it  for  the  number  of  students  it  has.  You  will  allow  me  to  say 
this  :  I  do  not  want  to  give  my  opinion  in  any  way  to  consider  it  as  a 
criterion  for  you  to  go  b}' ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  very  evident  that 
the  results  would  indicate  that,  for  the  few  students  that  are  in  the  college 
proper,  and  the  number  of  graduates  that  it  has  turned  out,  there  is  too 
much  money  s  ent  on  that  department.  1  think  the  institution  is  needed 
there;  it  certainly  is  needed  there  in  that  community,  and  it  could  be 


294  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

made  a  good  local  institution,  and  by  doing  so  the  preparatory  department 
should  have  better  facilities  than  it  now  has,  and  the  college  proper  should 
not  be  run  at  its  expense,  as  it  now  is. 
By  Mr  Alexander : 

Why  can  it  not  be  made  a  good  State  school  or  college,  if  it  is  man- 
aged properly  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Well,  why  can  it  not  be?    that's  the  question.     One  answer  to  that 
question  is  that  it's  location  is  too  remote. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

It's  too  remote  from  Chester  county. 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

It  is  very  handy  to  Centre  and  Clearfield  counties.  It  cannot  be  reached 
by  railroad,  except  by  the  way  of  Bellefonte,  and  after  you  get  to  Belle- 
fonte  it  takes  a  two  hours'  drive  to  get  to  the  college.  It's  location  might 
not  be  such  an  objectionable  feature  if  the  railroad  that  has  been  laid  out 
near  it  is  once  completed 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Is  it  not  as  near  in  the  center  of  the   State,  geographically,  as  it  can 
well  be  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Geographically,  it  may  be,  but  in  this  age  of  progress  and  invention 
distance  is  annihilated  by  steam  power,  and  the  furthest  part  of  the  State 
is  often  of  easier  access  than  the  center  part  of  it. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Miss  Shortlidge,  do  not  a  great  many  of  the  students  who  attend  the 
State  College  come  from  a  distance  ?  Do  not  some  come  from  other 
States — from  Ohio,  and  some  as  far  off  as  Texas,  and  did  not  a  great 
many  come  from  other  counties  than  Centre  and  Clearfield — as  you  were 
pleased  to  say  that  these  were  the  two  counties  that  were  not  remote,  but 
very  handy  to  the  college  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

I  say  that  when  Mr.  Shortlidge  went  there  he  took  nine  tenths — yes,  I 
may  say,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  ninety-nine  one  hundredths — of 
the  pupils  there  that  did  not  live  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  college. 
I  do  not  know  what  it  was  before  that,  but,  judging  from  the  numbar  that 
were  there,  that  it  never  had  been  much  better.  The  students  taken  there 
by  Mr.  Shortlidge  were  from  Philadelphia,  and  some  from  Chester  county, 
and,  I  venture  to  say,  there  were  more  pupils  there  from  a  distance  from 
the  time  Mr.  Shortlidge  was  there  than  had  ever  been  before,  and  these 
students  did  not  remain  after  Mr.  Shortlidge  left. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

How  many  did  Mr.  Shortlidge  take  there  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

When  we  went  there,  there  were  twenty  students  went  therefrom  Chester 
county.  The  best  students  in  the  college,  and  some  of  the  best  in  the 
State,  were  taken  there  by  Mr.  Shortlidg-e,  and,  with  the  exception  of  some 
children  that  attended  there  of  the  neighborhoods  surrounding  the  college, 
these  students  taken  there  by  Mr.  Shortlidge  composed  ninety-nine  one 
hundredths  of  all  the  students  that  attended  the  college,  while  Mr.  Short- 
lidge was  president,  from  a  distance.  These  all  came  away,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  five  or  six,  when  Mr.  Shortlidge  left,  but  these  five,  or  six  fol- 
lowed at  the  close  of  the  term. 
By  Mr,  Alexander : 

I  think  you  stated,  Miss  Shortlidge,  that  there  was  another  lady  taught 
there.     What  was  her  name  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  295 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Miss  Cooper. 

By  Mr.  Alexander: 

Was  she  a  member  of  the  faculty  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir  ;  she  was.     She  was  known  as  the  lady  principal. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

To  which  faction  of  the  college  did  she  belong  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

I  will  be  answering  that  question  with  candor  and  truth,  that  if  you 
wanted  to  keep  your  head  on  j'^our  shoulders,  at  that  college,  you  would  go 
to  the  strongest  side.  She  knew  which  side  to  go  to.  I  have  nothing  to 
say  about  the  lady,  except  what  is  good  and  respectable.  I  believe  her  to 
be  competent  to  fill  the  position  which  she  holds,  and  I  believe  she  did,  or 
at  least  tried  to  do,  what  was  right  and  proper. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

You  were  never  refused  permission  to  appear  before  the  facult}'^,  were 
you? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

Oh,  no;  I  did  not  put  it  in  that  shape.  I  claim  I  had  a  right,  and  still 
insist  I  had  a  right  to  be  a  member  of  that  faculty,  and  entitled  to  a  seat 
in  it.  My  object  was  to  get  admission  as  a  member  of  the  faculty  meeting, 
so  as  to  get  enough  influence  to  have  some  few  things  corrected  in  the  pre- 
paratory department.  I  would  have  been  willing  to  work  there  for  the 
same  salary,  double  the  number  of  hours  I  did,  if  I  could  have  gotten 
some  of  these  great  evils  connected  with  that  institution  under  subjection. 
By  Mr.  Alexander: 

That  is  a  subject  we  would  like  to  have  you  give  us  your  views  on.     Did 
your  observation,  while  connected  with  the  college,  lead  you  to  form  an 
opinion  as  to  the  moral  tone  of  the  college  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

This  is  the  matter  I  intend  to  speak  of  more  particularlj^  than  of  any 
other  thing  connected  with  the  college.  It  is  on  that  point  I  wish  to 
testify  most  emphatically.  The  immoral  tendencies  that  came  under  my 
observation  while  connected  with  the  college  have  been  of  the  most  disgrace- 
ful character.  I  am  almost  afraid  to  touch  on  tliat  part  of  the  case,  because 
of  the  earnestness  I  feel  in  it,  but  I  trust  to  my  womanhood  and  presence 
of  mind  that  I  raa}^  not  say  anything  but  what  is  the  truth  connected  with 
this  subject.  Among  other  things  that  were  of  an  immoral  tendency  was 
the  use  of  tobacco.  I  consider  the  use  of  tobacco  one  of  the  grossest  evils. 
I  think  that  it  is  even  worse,  in  some  respects,  then  the  use  of  the  intoxi- 
cating cup.  It  is  a  question,  in  my  mind  at  least,  whether  it  is  not  the 
greater  of  the  two  great  evils.  I  mean  the  great  evil  in  the  use  of  tobacco 
is  where  it  is  used  by  children.  The  extensive  use  to  which  tobacco  was 
put  in  that  college  is  simply  astounding,  as  well  as  disgraceful. 

Little  boys,  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  would  be  seen  smoking  pipes  in 
the  corridors  and  hall  ways  of  that  college  ;  they  would  stagger  into  their 
classes  in  a  gross  state  of  intoxication  caused  by  the  use  of  tobacco  and 
rum.  There  was  one  Lttle  fellow  came  into  my  class  one  day  so  drunk 
from  the  use  of  tobacco  and  rum  that  he  could  not  sit  on  his  seat ;  he  fell 
from  his  seat  during  the  recitation  hour.  He  was  considered  one  of  the 
most  disorderly  boys  in  the  college,  and  always  managed  to  make  more 
noise  and  confusion  than  any  other  boy  in  any  of  my  classes,  and  I  at  first 
reprimanded  him,  but  soon  saw  that  there  was  something  the  matter  with 
the  boy,  so  I  excused  him  from  the  classes.     He  had  been  smoking  a  pipe. 


296  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

but  it  was  a  very  common  thing  to  see  a  boy  twelve  years  of  age  walking 
through  the  halls  with  a  pipe  in  his  mouth. 

I  felt  ver^-  badly  about  this  little  fellow,  whom  I  had  sent  out  of  the  class- 
room, and  spoke  to  the  principal  of  the  preparatory  department  about  it, 
and  I  went  to  see  him  in  his  room  and  it  was  like  going  into  a  grog  shop  ; 
the  atmosphere  was  satur/^ted  with  the  smell  of  liquor  and  tobacco.  Many 
a  time  I  could  have  gone  into  a  grog  shop  and  I  would  not  have  been 
nearly  so  suffocated  as  I  was  with  the  fumes  of  liquor  and  tobacco  that 
would  meet  you  upon  entering  the  class-rooms ;  it  was  a  disgrace  to  the 
institution  to  tolerate  such  things.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  I  would 
have  liked  to  have  some  influence  with  the  faculty,  to  see  if  I  could  not 
have  corrected  some  of  these  disgraceful  scences  which  would  be  seen  there 
from  day  to  day. 

Another  instance  was  a  young  boy  who  was  taken  home  on  the  plea  that 
he  was  home-sick,  but,  from  what  I  afterwards  learned,  he  got  home-sick 
from  smoking.  I  learned  afterwards  that  he  had  been  smoking  for  two 
days  without  eating  anything,  and  the  result  of  it  was  that  he  was  taken 
home  when  he  had  delirium  tremens. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Was  that  occasioned  by  the  use  of  tobacco,  did  you  say  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
So  the  physician  stated  when  the  father  brought  him  back. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
What  was  the  name  of  the  boy  't 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
I  do  not  care  to  give  the  name  of  the  boy.     I  know  the  boy's  name,  but 
I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  to  give  it.     I  did  not  think  there  should  be 
any  more  disgrace  attached  to  the  little  fellow  than  there  already  is. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 
I  think  we  ought  to  have  the  name  of  the  boy,  so  we  can  follow  up  this 
charge  made  by  Miss  Shortlidge ;  if  such  a  state  of  things  exist  we  want 
to  know  it. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Yes ;  I  think,  in  justice  to  the  boy's  father,  we  ought  to  have  the  name 
so  as  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  these  facts,  and  also  where  he  was  from,  so 
that  we  can  reach  him  with  a  subpoena. 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Well,  sir;  the  boy's  name  was  Mancky  or  Mackey.     He  was  from  Wil- 
liamsport.     I  think  his  name  was  Manckey. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 
What  was  the  physician's  name  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
I  don't  know  his  name  at  all. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Was  he  a  resident  physician  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  college  ? 
By  Miss  Shortliige: 
'     No,  sir  ;  1  think  he  was  employed  in  Williamsport  b}'  the  boy's  father. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Would  you  know  his  name  if  you  heard  it ;   was  it  Dr.  Dale  or  Dr. 
Wood  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
It  is  not  Dr.  Dale. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
You  met  the  physician  at  the  college,  did  you  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  29T 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
No,  sir  ;  I  did  not  see  him  at  all ;  it  was  so  stated  by  the  boj's  when  he 
was  brouglit  back. 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  wanted  to  get  into  the  faculty  meeting  to  see  if  this  great  evil  could 
not  be  cured.  I  wanted  to  have  this  matter  investigated  of  the  boys  using 
liquor  and  tobacco.  I  wanted  to  see  if  we  could  not  stop  it,  expel  them 
if  necessary.  We  were  discussing,  in  the  facuUy,  the  propriety  of  dis- 
missing one  of  the  boys  for  drunkenness,  and  I  insisted  on  his  being  dis- 
missed. I  heard,  at  that  time,  a  member  of  the  faculty  say  in  the  faculty 
meeting,  that  if  you  commenced  to  expel  boys  for  getting  drunk  you  would 
soon  have  no  one  in  the  college. 

Q.  What  member  of  the  faculty  was  that  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Professor  Smith.     I  was  present  at  that  facult^^  meeting  myself  and  I 
healed  him  say  that.     I  am  sure  that  was  what  he  said  ;  these  were  the  very 
words  he  used  ;  I  am  not  mistaken  about  it. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Are  you  familiar  with  the  several  acts  of  Assembly  in  relation  to  the 
college,  Miss  Shortlidge? 
B3'  Miss  Shortlidge : 
I  have  read  them  over,  yes,  and  I  think  I  know  pretty  nearly  all  what 
they  contain. 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 
Do  you  know  whether  or  not  there  is  an  act  of  Assembly  that  prohibits 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  of  any  kind  within  two  miles  of  the  col- 
lege— that  there  has  been  special  provisions  made  by  the  Legislature  of 
Pennsylvania  to  guard  against  the  use  of  intoxicating  drink  at  that  insti- 
tution ?  • 
B3'  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  sir ;  I  knew  that  act.     That  was  the  act  of  assembly  under  which 
the  president  of  the  college  had  the  whiskey-seller  arrested  and  tried  in 
court — the  man  whom  3'ou  defended,  and  was  acquitted.     That  is  all  the 
good  the  law  does.     The  laws  are  of  no  good  unless  you  carry  them  out 
in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  intended  to  be  prosecuted. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
How  did  the  boys  get  this  rum  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
The  boys  would  get  it  in  Bellefonte.     Generally  some  of  them  would  go 
into  Bellefonte  and  lay  in  a  supph',  and  then  distribute  it  among  the  stu- 
dents at  the  college  on  their  return.     I  have  seen  some  of  the  college  stu- 
dents so  drunk  on  the  streets  of  Bellefonte  several  times  that  they  would 
stagger  from  one  side  of  the  pavement  to  the  other.     I  have  witnessed 
this  with  m.y  own  eyes  on  the  streets  of  Bellefonte. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Bellefonte  is  thirteen  miles  from  the  college,  is  it  not  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
About  twelve  miles,  I  think. 

B3'  Mr.  Alexander : 
Is  that  not  something  that  occurs  in  every  institution  in  the  land,  that 
when  students  get  away  from  college  grounds  they  indulge  rather  freely  in 
the  use  of  beverages  of  one  kind  or  another,  and  does  it  not  occur  at 
Lafayette,  at  Yale,  Harvard,  Princeton,  Cornell,  and  all  the  larger  institu- 
tions in  the  country  ? 


298  Reporit  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
It  may  be.     I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  It  is  not ;  but  I  have  never 
been  able  to  find  any  one  that  it  did  exist  to  such  an  extent  than  it  does  at 
the  Pennsylvania  State  College. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 
You  have  heard  the  statement  made  here,  by  the  preceding  witness,  of 
hazing  having  been  carried  on  and  practiced  to  a  great  extent  at  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  College ;  what  do  you  know  about  that  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
I  never  saw  more  than  what  school-boys  would  indulge  in  until  I  went 
to  the  State  College,  and  it  was  a  matter  that  I  do  not  know  much  about, 
and  do  not  know  to  what  excess  it  was  carried  on  at  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College,  except  I  can  corroborate  what  has  already  been  said  that 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  disorder  there  among  the  students. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Your  connection  with  the  State  College  was  the  first  institution  with 
which  you  were  connected  where  the  majority  or  all  of  the  students  were 
boys,  and  where  they  came  from  all  sections  of  the  country  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
No,  sir.     I  have  been  ten  years  in  one  institution  and  seven  in  another. 
For  seven  years  I  was  in  an  institution  in  which  there  were  a  hundred  and 
five  boys,  and  they  were  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  but  I  never  saw  one 
of  these  one  hundred  and  five  boys  under  the  influence  of  liquor. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Did  they  never  make  any  attempts  to  prosecute  the  violators  of  the 
liquor  law  at  the  Pennsjlvania  State  College  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
They  did  attempt  it  once,  but  the  result  was  as  you  have  heard  it  de- 
tailed here  to-day  ;  because  of  the  insincerity  of  General  Beaver,  who  was 
the  counsel  of  the  president  of  the  college,  the  whisky  seller  was  permitted 
to  go  unpunished  for  his  oflense.     But  this  case,  though  it  did  result  in  a 
mis-trial,  and  the  whisky-seller's  offense  was  condoned  and  he  left  to  go 
unpunished,  it  stopped  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liqours  to  students  to  a 
great  extent.     It  did  that  much  towards  breaking  it  up,  for  the  whisky- 
sellers  in  Bellefonte  were  more  particular  to  whom  they  sold,  for  fear  they 
might  get  into  the  clutches  of  the  law.     For  they  believed  there  was  a 
person  at  the  head  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  who  would  not  sub- 
mit to  have  them  shower  on  him  the  burning  shame  of  being  at  the  head 
of  a  college  of  drunken  students. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 
The  case  jon  refer  to  now  was  a  prosecution  against  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Haag,  who  keeps  a  hotel  at  Pleasant  Gap,  about  four  miles  from  Belle- 
fonte, in  which  the  president  of  the  college,  Mr,  Joseph  Shortlidge,  was 
the  prosecutor. 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
Yes.  sir  ;  that  is  the  case  I  refer  to.     I  do  not  know  how  far  he  lives 
from  Bellefonte. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
You  were  present  and  heard  the  evidence  as  it  was  given  in  court  in 
that  case  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  was  not  in  court.     I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  and,  of  course,  do  not 
know  what  was  said  there. 

By  Mr.  Alexander  :  * 

Do  you  pretend  to  say  that  without  hearing  any  of  the  evidence  what- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College. 

ever  in  the  case  that  Mr.  Haag,  the  man  who  was  prosecul 
of  the  offense  charged,  notwithstanding  that  the  verdict  of 
twelve  sworn  men  was  "  not  guilty,"  after  having  heard  all  of  the  evidence  ? 
Do  yon,  in  the  face  of  that  verdict  of  twelve  sworn  men,  say  that  he  was 
guilty  and  that  their  verdict  was  wrong  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

Oh,  no ;  but  I  heard  boys,  and  boys  who  were  minors,  say  they  had 
bought  whisky  from  him.  I  heard  that  said  myself,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
but  what  it  is  true,  and  the  man  should  have  been  punished  for  the  offense, 
if  the  laws  which  make  it  an  offense  are  worth  anything ;  and  if  they  are 
not  worth  anything,  they  are  a  disgrace  to  the  statute  books. 
B3'  Mr.  Alexander  : 

You  not  being  present  in  court  at  the  trial,  did  not  hear  the  boys  upon 
the  witness  stand,  and  therefore  you  do  not  know  what  they  testified  to 
there. 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

I  do  not  know  what  they  testified  to  there  and  did  not  hear  it,  but  from 
what  I  did  hear  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  boys  got  the  whisky 
at  that  grog-shop,  and  paid  the  whisky-seller  for  it. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

What  was  the  name  of  the  young  man  that  should  have  gotten  whisky 
there  that  was  a  minor  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

Philip  Throcmorton, 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

From  Philadelphia  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Yes,  sir  ;  the  very  same  boy,  and  a  bright  young  fellow  he  was,  too,  and 
the  story  he  detailed  upon  the  witness  stand  as  to  how  he  obtained  the 
liquor,  or  beer  I  think  it  was,  that  he  stood  back  of  another  student  who 
was  drinking  at  the  bar,  and  who  was  of  age,  that  he  slipped  the  glass  of 
beer  from  the  bar  where  they  were  drinking,  and  went  back  of  the  ice-cooler 
and  drank  it.  He  admitted  on  cross-examination  that  Mr.  Haag  was  very 
busy  at  the  time,  and  did  not  see  him  take  it.  He  said  after  he  drank  it, 
he  slipped  the  glass  and  money  back  on  the  counter  in  the  same  way,  and 
b}^  himself  testified  that  Mr.  Haag  never  saw  him  take  it  at  all,  for  he 
knew  if  Mr.  Haag  would  see  him  that  he  would  not  get  the  beer.  Now, 
the  jury  believed  this  state  of  facts,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  did  not 
convict  on  evidence  of  that  kind. 
By  Miss  Shortlidge: 

I  would  say,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  these  facts  came  under  my  persoral  ob- 
servation ;  and,  as  you  have  asked  me  to  state  facts  only,  I  have  stated 
them  onl}^  as  I  know  them,  and  my  judgment  would  be  that  under  the  facts, 
as  they  were  represented  to  me,  the  whisky-seller  in  that  case  should  have 
been  convicted,  and  no  doubt  would  have  been,  had  not  the  sympathy  of 
the  jurors  and  counsel  been  with  him  in  the  trial.  I  say  it  is  a  disgrace 
for  many  of  the  friends  of  the  college  to  have  insisted  on  anything  else 
than  a  conviction  in  that  case. 
By  Mr.  Hall  : 

You  have  spoken  of  the  immoral  tendencies  of  the  place ;   are  there 
immoralities  of  other  kinds  other  than  those  which  you  have  mentioned  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

The  immoral  tendencies  not  onl^'^  of  the  college  are  bad,  but  of  the  sur- 


300  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

rounding  community  also,  and  are  not  what  they  should  be  in  the  vicinity 
of  a  college  where  young  men  are  sent  for  the  purpose  of  improving  their 
morals,  as  well  as  improvement  intellectually. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Miss  Shortlidge,the  committee  would  like  to  know  if  there  are  any  other 
immoral  tendencies  connected  with  the  institution  as  there  are  in  attend- 
ance students  of  both  sexes — immoral  practices  or  tendencies  could  exist 
now — we  would  like  to  know  whether  there  are  immoralities  of  any  other 
character  than  those  you  have  mentioned  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

Not  so  far  as  I  know.    When  speaking  of  immoralities,  I  mean  only  the 
use  of  intoxicating  drink  and  tobacco. 
Mr.  Hall : 

Well,  that  was  confined  solely  to  the  boys  of  the  institution.     The  girls 
or  young  ladies,  we  hope,  did  not  indulge  in  the  use  of  tobacco  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir;  it  is  confined  to  the  male  students  exclusively.  I  would  state 
that  this  boy  who  has  been  referred  to  by  the  preceding  witness — the  boy 
who  made  some  disturbance  during  the  chapel  services — he  was  a  very  bad 
boy,  the  leader  in  almost  every  kind  of  mischief,  and  ver^'  disorderl3^  He 
took  special  delight  in  giving  the  members  of  the  faculty  as  much  annoy- 
ance and  trouble  as  he  possibly  could.  He  was  called  and  known  among 
the  college  boys  as  one  of  the  "  bummers  "  of  the  faculty,  and  if  there 
was  anything  going  on  in  that  building,  he  was  sure  to  be  one  of  the  par- 
ties ;  and  had  a  character  among  the  boys  at  college  for  being  one  that 
could  always  be  depended  upon  if  they  wanted  to  cut  up  in  any  depreda- 
tion. He  was  always  in  for  having  a  good  time.  It  was  I  that  informed 
the  president  of  the  faculty  of  his  misconduct  during  chapel  services.  I 
saw  him  kick  the  back  oft"  the  seat  with  his  feet,  after  the  boys  had  been 
told  that  further  noise  at  that  time  was  out  of  place.  Professor  Campbell 
was  the  professor  in  charge  of  chapel  services  that  morning.  He  stood 
there  with  his  Bible  open,  ready  to  read,  when  this  noise  was  repeated  by 
this  boy.  I  happened  to  be  sitting  from  where  I  could  see  him.  I  saw 
him  in  the  very  act  in  kicking  or  scraping  his  feet,  and,  if  ever  there  was 
a  thing  done  on  purpose,  that  act  was  so  done,  most  undoubtedly.  I  heard 
the  scraping  of  feet,  which  first  attracted  my  attention,  and  felt  then  he 
was  not  doing  the  right  thing,  so  I  watched  him,  to  see  how  much  further 
he  would  go.  I  spoke  of  it  to  the  president  of  the  college,  who,  after 
having  satisfied  himself  by  interrogating  the  boy.  sent  him  home  without 
further  ceremony.  He  did  this  as  a  punishment  for  his  misbehavior,  and 
because  the  other  members  of  the  faculty  would  not  consult  with  reference 
to  the  boy's  dismissal  from  the  college.  They  took  a  part,  however,  in 
having  him  re-instated,  by  writing  to  General  Beaver.  If  the  president 
would  have  called  a  faculty  meeting  to  have  had  the  boy  suspended  for  a 
short  time,  they  would,  no  doubt,  all  have  agreed  with  the  president  of 
the  faculty  that  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  send  him  home  for  a  few 
weeks — -just  what  was  done  by  the  president  of  the  faculty,  without  con- 
sulting them.  They  questioned  Mr.  Shortlidge's  right  to  do  this,  but  this 
Mr.  Shortlidge  had  a  right  to  do,  as  president  of  the  faculty,  under  the 
resolution  adopted  by  the  board  of  trustees,  at  their  meeting  in  June  pre- 
ceding It  was  in  this  respect  that  Doctor  Calder  was  unable  to  do  more 
than  he  did.  In  reference  to  Doctor  Calder,  I  was  told  by  a  member  of 
the  senior  class  of  the  year  in  which  we  were  there,  who  was  friendly  to- 
wards the  doctor — he  said  he  believed  it  to  be  a  fact  that  certain  members 
of  the  faculty  had  done  all  in  their  power  to  have  Doctor  Calder  removed, 


Leg.  T)oc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  801 

while  he  remarked,  further,  in  a  very  reserved  manner,  that  he  believed 
Doctor  Calder  to  be  very  much  injured  by  the  misrepresentations  of  certain 
persons  connected  with  the  college.  I  concluded  from  all  that  I  heard  said 
ajainst  Doctor  Calder,  if  it  was  all  true,  that  he  must  have  been  an 
egregious  mass  of  blunder.  Why  a  set  of  intelligent  men — among  them 
some  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  State,  who  comprised  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College — would  have  picked  up  such  a 
number  of  blunders  as  these  men  represented  Doctor  Calder  to  be,  I  could 
never  understand  ;  it  certainly  did  not  display  good  judgment  on  their 
part,  if  all  these  representations  were  true. 
By  Professor  Smith : 
In  speaking  of  Dr.  Calder — of  the  reprejentations  made  against  him — in 
which  you  say  he  was  represented  as  being  a  bundle  of  blunders,  did  you 
read  Dr.  Calder's  testimony  taken  before  a  former  investigating  com- 
mittee ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir.     I  never  spoke  to  Dr.  Calder  about  it ;  nor  did  I  ever  ask  a 
question  about  him  one  way  or  the  other,  and  all  that  I  heard  was  given 
voluntarily  on  the  part  of  the  persons  with  whom  I  came  in  contact.     It 
was  entirely  unsolicited  on  my  part ;  but  I  heard  so  much  about  him  and 
against  him  that  I  believed  very  little  what  was  said,  and  made  up  my 
mind  that  he  was  certainly  unjustly  abused. 
B}'  Professor  Smith  : 
The  question  I  asked  you  was  whether  you  had  read  Dr.  Calder's  testi- 
mony taken  before  a  former  investigating  committee,  and  after  having  read 
it.  whether  you  were  not  justifiable  in  coming  to  a  conclusion  whether  he 
was  a  bundle  of  blunders  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  do  not  know  how  that  may  be.     I  would  not  like  to  reflect  so  much 
upon  the  trustees  of  the  State  College  as  to  lay  to  them  the  charge  of 
having  selected  a  man  as  the  head  of  that  institution  who  was  so  manifestly 
unfit  for  the  position. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 
Do  you  know  these  things  of  your  own  knowledge,  Miss  Shortlidge  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir  ;  I  never  saw  Dr.  Calder  to  know  him.     I  only  know  these  things 
that  were  brought  to  me  voluntarily  by  those  who  were  opposing  him,  and 
what  was  said  by  his  friends  to  me. 
By  Mr.  My'lin  : 
What  was  this  boy's  name  that  was  sent  home  by  the  president  of  the 
college  for  making  the  disturbance  during  the  chapel  service  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
B  unter  was  his  name.     I  do  not  recall  his  fi.rst  name. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
You  stated  a  while  ago  that  you  taught  in  one  school  ten  years  at  d  at 
another  seven  years ;  what  was  the  age  of  the  students  attending  at  these 
schools  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
A  t  the  institution  where  I  was  seven  years  we  had  twenty-five  boys  there, 
whose  ages  ran  from  about  fifteen  to  twent^'-three  years.     Among  many  of 
them  were  young  men,  and  many  of  them  to-day  fill  prominent  positions  in 
this  and  other  States. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
How  about  the  other  school  ? 


302  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Their  ages  ran  very  much  the  same  as  in  the  other  one.     I  was  also  con- 
nected three  or  four  years  with  public  schools,  and  we  had  students  there 
of  various  ages,  as  you  are  no  doubt  familiar  with  the  ages  of  students  who 
attend  public  schools  generally. 
By  Mr.  Alexander: 

In  the  earlier  part  of  your  statement  to  this  committee  you  spoke  of  this 
institution  being  in  the  back  woods,  away  out  of  the  reach  of  society,  etc., 
etc.  What  do  you  mean  to  convey  by  that  ?  Doyoumean  tosay  thatwe  are 
a  sort  of  wolverines  or  desperadoes  up  in  Centre  county, living  away  from  the 
wholesome  influences  of  refinement  and  highly  cultured  and  intelligent  so- 
ciety, such  as  you  people  in  Chester  county  are  blessed  with,  and  that  we 
have  not  yet  arrived  at  such  a  stage,  in  this  modern  age  of  progress  and 
improvement,  as  to  be  classed  among  the  civilized  and  enlightened  people 
of  this  country  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Perhaps  I  should  modify  that.  You  will  understand  what  I  mean  by 
that  when  you  know  that  I  had  always  lived  near  a  line  of  railroad  and  near 
Philadelphia.  After  having  had  all  of  these  advantages  during  my  whole 
life,  and  then  moved  twelve  miles  from  any  railroad,  and  in  order  to  take 
a  railroad  train  for  any  place  you  would  first  have  to  travel  twelve  miles  in 
a  vehicle,  it  seemed  very  much  to  convey  the  idea  to  me  of  being  in  the 
back  woods. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 

You  did  not  mean  that,  then,  as  a  reflection  on  the  morals  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  the  college  is  located  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  ; 

I  think  it  is  not  as  an  intelligent  community  as  many  others  that  I  have 
been  in.  I  think  that  there  is  very  little  society  there,  and  what  is  there, 
amounts  to  nothing.  There  is  no  societ}  there  with  which  students  of  the 
college  can  associate  with  any  profit  to  themselves.  The  people  living 
throughout  the  country  there  are  ignorant  and  uncultured,  and  the  stu- 
dents would  derive  no  enjoyment,  neither  moral  r;or  intellectual  benefits 
from  intermingling  with  the  people  that  live  near  and  around  the  college. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  if  you  get  to  Bellefonte  it  is  difftrent.  Bellefonte  is 
at  a  railroad,  and  the  people  living  there  have  all  the  advantages  of  modern 
improvement,  and  are  intelligent  and  respectful,  but  it  is  quite  different 
out  where  the  college  is.  The  people  out  there  are  common  people,  who 
require  very  little  education  and  intelligence  to  get  along  in  their  plain 
way  of  living.  I  do  not  care  to  have  another  such  experience.  1  was 
very  unhappy  out  there  away  from  home  and  society  with  whom  I  could 
converse  intelligently  and  with  pleasure,  and  I  think  that  is  one  of  the 
strongest  evidences  with  the  college  or  any  institution  of  learning  as  being 
needed  there  very  much.  I  say  it  should  become  a  local  institution. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Your  speaking  of  the  locality  of  the  college,  and  that  the  locality  in 
which  it  is  located  is  not  noted  for  its  intelligence,  do  you  not  think  that 
that  would  be  the  proper  place  for  an  agricultural  college,  then  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir,  it  is  a  proper  place  for  an  institution  of  learning,  and  I  said 
that  I  wanted  to  see  it  become  a  local  institution,  and  I  stated  that  the 
community  needed  an  institution  of  learning  there  very  much. 
By  Mr,  Mylin : 

What  have  you  to  say  about  the  buildings ;  are  they  well  adapted  for 
the  purposes  of  the  college  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  803 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  have  this  to  say,  that  I  do  not  think  the  sanitaiy  condition  of  the 
buildings  is,  by  any  means,  what  it  should  be.  But  I  suppose  the  time 
these  buildings  were  planned,  they  were  first  class  for  the  purpose  intended. 
The  buildings  have  not  the  modern  improvements,  in  many  respects,  that 
might  have  been  placed  there  with  some  of  the  money  that  has  been  wasted 
in  running  the  college.  There  are  a  good  many  facilities  there  if  used 
properlj',  and  some  good  work  could  be  done.  I  think  that  the  grounds 
around  the  buildings  could  be  beautified  and  made  more  attractive  by  a  little 
attention,  although  I  think  the  appearance  of  the  grounds  show  that  they 
have  been  carefully  attended  to.  When  I  was  there,  of  course,  they  did 
not  look  so  well,  for  I  went  there  in  late  summer,  and  came  away  in 
early  spring. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
What  have  you  to  say  about  the  health  fulness  of  the  locality  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  think  the  healthfulness  of  the  locality  is  everji;hing  that  could  be  de- 
sired. 

By  Mr.  Hall  : 
Have  any  epidemics  or  contagious  diseases  visited  the  country  to  your 
knowledge  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Are  you  familiar  with  the  supply  of  water  furnished  to  that  college,  and 
how  does  it  compare  with  other  first-class  institutions  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir ;  I  think  they  get  their  supply   of  water  from  artesian   wells. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  lime  in  it ;  bear  that  particular.     The  water  is 
very  good,  and  I  guess  there  is  an  abundance  of  it ;  but  that  the  manage- 
ment of  the  college  farms  is  not  what  it  should  be  is  evident  from  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the  place,  and  no  management  would  allow  the  bicker- 
ings and  dissensions  in  any  faculty  that  are  in  that  one. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 
If  the  manageirent  of  the  institution  is  in  any  way  defective,  to  whom 
do  3^ou  attribute  the  fault  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Well,  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  answer  that  question.     You  .say  the  re- 
sult of  the  college,  the  results  having  been  the  same  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  a  college  which  produces  no  better  results  than  the  Pennsylvania  State 
College  has  in  many  years,  there  must  be  something  wrong  somewhere, 
without  producing  such  results. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Well,  where  would  j'ou  place  the  blame — on  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
That's  where  it  belongs,  I  think,  and  there  should    be  a  new  board  of 
trustees  created. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 
Where  does  the  power  rest  that  elects  the  board  of  trustees  in  that  insti- 
kntion  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
It  is  said  to  rest  largely  with  the  agriculturists  of  the  State. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
So,  then,  if  there  be  anything  wrong  with  the  management  of  it,  the 
iculturists  are  greatly  to  blame,  are  they  not  ? 


304  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Well,  I  do  not  think  that  the  agriculturists  had  much  to  do  with  it. 
The  other  element  that  composes  the  board  of  trustees  is  the  element  that 
runs  the  college,  and  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  who  are  agri- 
culturists are  in  a  minority  at  the  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees  gen- 
erally. 

Q.  Do  you  know  how  many  members  compose  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Twenty-one. 

By  Mr.  Mylin : 
How  many  of  these  members  does  the  agricultural  society  of  the  State 
elect  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  do  not  know  exactly;  I  do  not  knosv  what  proportion  of  the  twenty- 
one  members  they  are  entitled  to.     The  graduates  of  the  college  are  also 
entitled  to  elect  some  of  the  trustees. 
By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
The  alumni  are  also  represented  by  the  board   of  trustees,  are  they 
not  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  sir  ;  I  believe  so. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 
The  Governor  of  the  State,  the   Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
the  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs,  the  Auditor  General,  and  the  President 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Society  are  the  members  ex  officio  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  are  they  not  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
Yes,  sir  ;  but  as  they  are  connected  with  the  institution  they  mean  noth- 
ing, so  far  as  the  running  of  the  college  goes.     They  never  attend  (with 
one  or  two  exceptions)  any  of  the  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
Q.  Do  they  never  attend  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Some  of  them,  I  think,  have  been  known  to  attend  some  of  the  meet- 
ings of  the  board  of  trustees  ;  but  as  a  general  thing  they  are  like  all  ex 
officio  members — they  do  not  take  much  interest  in  the  institution.  I 
would  like  to  say  this  about  the  committee  of  investigation  that  was  sent 
there  to  investigate  the  trouble  that  was  at  the  college  while  we  were  there : 
They  came  .there  and  made  such  investigation  as  they  saw  proper.  It  was 
conducted  on  a  very  secret  plan.  They  called  in  one  member  of  the  fac- 
ulty at  a  time,  and  what  they  testified  to  was  known  to  no  person  except 
the  members  themselves.  They  got  through  in  a  ver}-  short  time,  and 
went  away. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  :  ' 

What  committee  do  you  refer  to  ? 

B}^  Miss  Shortlidge : 
I  refer  to  the  committee  appointed  by  the  board  of  trustees. 

By  Mr.  Mylin  : 
Who  were  the  members  of  that  committee? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
General  Campbell  was  one;  Mayor  Starkweather,  of  Williamsport,  and 
Gordon  was  another.     He  was  a  graduate  of  the  college. 

Q.  Do  you  know  who  elected  Mr.  Gordon  as  trustee  ?     Was  he  elected 
by  the  alumni  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
He  was  a  graduate  of  the  college,  and,  I  think,  was  elected  by  the 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  305 

alumni.     I  have  just  this  to  say. about  the  committee,  that  nothing  more 
resulted  from  it  than  a  court-martial  of  one  man. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Is  the  man  you  refer  to  Mr.  Joseph  Shortlidge  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr  Mylin : 

Is  it  then,  not  in  your  opinion,  the  fault  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and 
does  not  this  college  owe  its  failure  more  to  the  manner  in  the  trustees 
performing  their  dut}' ,  than  any  other  cause  than  you  can  attribute  it  to  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 

Well,  I  am  not  willing,  that  I  do  without  qualifying  it.  If  the  board  of 
trustees,  as  a  board,  would  take  the  management  of  the  college  in  hand, 
and  not  let  it  be  at  the  mercy  of  one  individual,  I  do  not  think  it  would 
be  as  bad  as  it  is.  I  have  this  to  say,  from  my  own  personal  observation, 
that  I  consider  General  Beaver  the  board  of  trustees,  and  everything  that 
he  advises,  let  it  be  right  or  wrong,  was  done.  The  other  members  of  the 
board  of  trustees  do  whatever  he  says,  and,  outside  of  General  Beaver, 
the  board  of  trustees  amounts  to  nothing.  1  am  satisfied  with  this,  that  the 
$30,000  expended  there  every  year,  in  maintaining  that  institution,  could 
be,  by  far,  better  expended  than  what  it  is 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

How  did  you  come  to  leave  the  college  ;  did  you  resign  your  position  as 
a  teacher  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir ;  I  did.  I  resigned.  I  did  not  want  to  hold  a  position  under  a 
constant  personal  aggravation.  I  was  very  courteously  asked,  by  the  com- 
mittee, to  remain  in  there,  as  they  said  to  me  that  I  could  do  some  work 
there  that  would  be  ver^'^  serviceable  to  the  college.  I  declined  to  do  so, 
peremptorily,  after  the  treatment  1  had  received  at  the  hands  of  certain 
members  of  the  faculty,  and  the  second  objection  was  of  the  immoral  ten- 
dencies of  the  place.  The  two  were  more  than  I  could  endure  for  another 
year.  It  would  take  quite  a  ditferent  programme,  and  the  hardest  kind  of 
work  and  perseverance,  to  make  that  preparatory  department,  morally, 
what  it  should  be,  without  reference  to  the  advancement  of  the  intellectual 
part  of  it.  I  value  my  reputation  as  a  teacher,  and  I  will  not  teach  when 
the  results  are  not  what  I  think  they  should  be.  I  say  this,  that  I  value 
my  reputation  as  a  teacher  too  highly,  that  an  offer  of  $5,000  a  3'ear  of 
salary  could  not  induce  me  to  go  back  into  that  preparatory  department. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Are  the  preparatory  departments  connected  with  colleges  not  always  a 
secondary  consideration  ? 
B3'  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir ;  I  think  they  are,  to  some  extent.  The  preparatory  department 
stands  below,  but  at  the  same  time  it  should  be  allowed  some  privileges, 
to  have  the  time  spent  in  the  preparatory  department  of  more  service 
than  what  it  possibly'  can  be  the  way  it  is  conducted  at  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College. 

B3'  Professor  Hamilton : 

I  want  to  know.  Miss  Shortlidge,  whether  in  the  examination  held  b}-  this 
committee  of  the  board  of  trustees,  that  was  designated  in  3'our  statement 
as  a  court-martial,  whether  or  not  all  the  members  of  the  faculty  did  not 
have  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  before  it  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 

Yes,  sir  ;  they  were,  but  all  the  examinations  were  conducted  in  secret ; 

20— Leg.  Doo.  No.  18. 


306  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

the  persons  who  preferred  the  charges  were  not  allowed  to  be  in  the  room 
while  the  examinations  were  being  had,  and  I  do  not  tliink  that  tliere  is  a 
grain  of  justice  gleaned  from  the  proceedings  of  such  a  kind. 
By  Professor  Hamilton  : 
Did  that  committee  convey  any  intimation  at  the  time  they  were  holding 
theil'  investigation  that  they  were  expecting  the  president  of  the  college  to 
hand  in  his  resignation  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge: 
I  do  not  know,  sir,  whether  they  did  or  not. 

By  Professor  Hamilton  : 
You  have  intimated  that  the  manner  in  which  the  recitations  were  con- 
ducted in  the  college  were  very  unsatisfactory,  and  the  results  showed 
great  deliciency  of  certain  members  of  the  college — what  opportunity  did 
you  have  of  knowing  of  your  own  personal  knowledge  what  the  manner  of 
instruction  was  in  that  college  in  the  various  departments  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  was  present  at  the  recitations. 

By  Professor  Hamilton  : 
Were  you  ever  present  at  the  recitation  in  physics  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir. 

By  Professor  Hamilton  : 
Were  you  ever  present  at  the  recitations  in  chemistry  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
No,  sir. 

By  Professor  Hamilton : 
Were  you  ever  present  at  the  recitations  of  mathematics  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge: 
Yes,  sir. 

By  Professor  Hamilton  : 
How  often  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  don't  remember  how  often. 

By  Professor  Hamilton  : 
Were  you  ever  present  at  any  of  the  other  recitations  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
I  guess  I  was. 

By  Professor  Hamilton : 
What  ones  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
I  don't  remember  what  ones  now. 

By  Professor  Hamilton  : 
You  have  said,  that  you  heard  a  member  of  the  faculty  say  that  if  you 
would  commence  to  expel  students  for  drunkenness  you  would  soon  have 
no  students  left — what  idea  do  you  mean  to  convey  by  that  ?     Do  you  mean 
to  say  that  the  faculty  winked  at  drunkenness  and  disorder  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
I  mean  to  say,  sir,  just  what  I  did  say — that  I  heard  Professor  Smith 
sa}',  in  a  faculty  meeting,  that  if  you  commenced  to  expel  students  for 
drunkenness  you  would  soon  have  no  students  left  in  the  college. 
By  Professor  Smith : 
Can  you  name  the  student  that  was  referred  to  as  being  drunk,  that  led 
me  to  make  that  remark  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
Yes,  sir  ;  I  think  I  can. 


Leg.  I)oc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  30Y 

By  Professor  Smith  : 
Who  was  it  ?     Was  it  Potter  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge  : 
No,  sir. 

By  Professor  Smith  : 
Will  3'ou  name  him,  if  you  please  ? 

By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
It  was  the  boy  by  the  name  of  Cartwright. 

By  Professor  Smith : 
He  has  since  deceased  ? 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Yes,  sir  ;  I  understand  so. 

Statement  by  Professor  Smith  : 
Mr.  President,  I  want  to  explain  the  statement  made  here  by  Miss  Short- 
lidge, as  to  what  I  said  at  the  faculty  meeting,  that  if  j^ou  commenced  to 
expel  students  for  drunkenness  that  yon  would  soon  have  no  one  left  in 
the  college.     I  do  not  think  I  used  that  language. 
By  Miss  Shortlidge : 
Those  are  the  very  words  you  used  ;  I  heard  you  use  them. 

By  Professor  Smith  : 
I  don't  think  I  used  that  language  exactly-,  but  what  I  meant  by  saying 
what  I  did  at  that  time  was,  that  I  would  rather  excuse  any  number  of 
students  for  drunkenness  than  expel  one  student  for  that  offense  and  let 
the  liquor-seller  escape.  My  idea  was  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  this  evil, 
and  strike  it  where  it  would  most  effectually  strike. 

Alfred  Sharpless,  affirmed  and  examined  : 

Q.  Mr.  Sharpless,  you  are  a  practical  farmer,  are  you,  or  have  been  at 
one  time  during  your  life  ? 

A.  I  have  been  farming  some,  for  a  few  years -only ;  I  was  raised  upon 
a  farm. 

Q.  You  are  no  doubt  interested  in  the  subject  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  I  have  been,  very  much.  Although  I  am  not  farming  at  the  present 
time,  and  I  only  farmed  for  myself  personally  for  a  few  years. 

Q.  Will  you  go  on  and  state  what  you  know  about  this  Eastern  experi- 
mental farm — what  you  know  about  the  management  of  it,  and  so  on  ? 

A.  I  know  very  iittle  about  it,  except  what  I  have  heard  ;  I  have  no 
storj'  of  my  own  to  tell,  as  I  know  so  little  about  it  personally.  I  was 
raised  upon  a  farm,  but  I  came  here  to  Philadelphia  when  I  was  about 
nineteen  years  of  age,  and  remained  here  for  ten  years  or  more  in  the  rail- 
road business,  during  which  time  I  paid  very  little  attention  to  practical 
farming.  But  part  of  the  time  afterwards  I  was  connected  with  the  Schuyl- 
kill Navigation  Company.  I  had  charge  of  two  farms  belonging  to  that 
compan}^,  which  I  run  myself,  but  after  running  them  for  a  number  of 
years  without  being  successful,  I  abandoned  them,  and  left  them  for  some 
one  to  run  who  could  run  them  more  successfully^  than  what  I  had  run 
them.  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  my  management  of  the  two  farms  of  the 
Schuylkill  Navigation  Company  was  not  successful.  I  resigned  my  man- 
agement over  them,  and  went  into  Chester  county  and  bought  myself  a 
farm,  and  staid  upon  it  myself  about  five  yeai's,  I  think,  although  I  am  not 
positive  about  the  exact  time  1  did  stay  upon  it.  But  I  think  I  superin- 
tended for  about  five  j-ears  on  the  farm  myself  I  then  became  dissatisfied 
with  it.  I  removed  to  West  Chester,  and  put  my  farm  out — I  rented  it 
out,  but  still  owned  it.  That  is  about  the  extent  of  my  practical  farming. 
But  I  have  myself  taken  much  interest  in  agricultural  pursuits.     Even 


308  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

whilst  I  was  here  in  Philadelphia,  which  was  a  good  many  years  ago,  peo- 
ple with  whom  I  was  acquainted — and  I  was  acquainted  with  farmers 
through  Chester  county  very  well — they  took  great  interest  in  agricul- 
tural affairs,  and  I  would  occasionally  go  down  to  their  meetings.  I  was 
there  at  some  of  their  meetings  after  this  farm  was  purchased  by  the  agri- 
cultural college,  and  took  part  in  them,  but  1  never  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  management  of  the  farm. 

Q.  You  have  visited  this  farm,  then,  since  they  have  been  carrying  on 
experiments  there  ? 

A.  Oh  !  yes  ;  and  they  would  come  and  ask  me  my  opinion  about  it,  and 
we  would  talk  the  subject  over  among  us. 

Q.  But  you  were  never  connected  officially  with  the  farm  ? 

A.  Not  at  all,  in  any  shape  or  form ;  I  have  gone  there  with  men  who 
were  interested  in  its  success,  and  at  the  same  time  was  also  interested  in 
it  myself. 

Q.  Did  you  attend  any  of  the  club  meetings  that  Mr.  Harvey  spoke  of 
yesterday  in  his  testimony  ? 

A.  Quite  frequently,  sir. 

Q.  Would  3'ou  take  a  part  in  the  discussions  that  took  place  in  these 
club  meetings — express  your  opinions,  etc.  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  I  would;  the  meetings  were  open  for  all  to  take  part  in, 
and  you  could  express  your  views  the  same  as  you  would  in  a  meeting  of 
a  grange  ;  the  farmers  would  talk  on  all  subjects — what  ever  they  were — as 
they  presented  themselves,  and  no  doubt  they  were  very  instructive  and 
highly-  edifying. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  visited  the  State  College  ? 

A.  I  never  was  at  the  college,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  never  been  to  the  Central  experimental  farm  at  the  college  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  never  have.  I  was  never  up  through  that  country  but 
once,  and  then  I  was  as  far  as  Bellefonte.  That  was  some  twenty  or  thirty 
years  ago.  Since  then  I  have  not  been  west  of  Harrisburg,  on  the  Penn- 
sylvania railroad. 

Q.  Have  you  any  suggestions  to  make  with  regard  as  to  what  should 
be  done  with  this  farm  ?     If  so,  we  should  be  pleased  to  hear  them. 

A.  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  any  suggestions  to  make  other  than  what 
have  already  been  made.  I  have  talked  a  great  to  agriculturists  about  it. 
They  all  seem  to  be  of  one  opinion  about  it,  and  that  is,  that  the  farm  had 
better  be  sold  unless  it  can  be  made  more  successful  than  what  it  has  been 
in  the  past.  It  seems  to  be  the  universal  opinion  that  the  farms  have  been 
more  or  less  neglected  by  the  trustees  of  the  college,  with  a  view  to  mak- 
ing the  college  too  much  an  institution  of  varied  learning  and  losing  sight 
of  the  original  design  the  founders  of  the  "  Farmers'  High  School  "  had 
in  view.  The  management  of  the  college  seems  to  have  strayed  away  off 
from  its  original  purpose  and  is  not  carrying  out  the  true  intentions  of  its 
founders.  Dr.  Elwyn,  who  was  one  of  the  original  men  in  starting  the 
"  State  Agricultural  Society  "  and  the  "  Farmers'  High  School,"  and  who 
took  a  very  active  part  in  all  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State  at 
that  time,  had  a  great  deal  to  do  in  shaping  and  starting  both  of  these 
institutions.  I  afterwards  got  a  letter  from  him,  which  shows  his  motive 
in  taking  the  action  in  this  that  he  did.  If  it  is  desired,  I  will  give  you 
that  letter.  It  merely  shows  the  object  and  interest  that  Dr.  Elwyn  took 
in  it  at  the  time — why  he  did  so,  and  what  was  proposed  to  be  done  with 
the  college  by  the  men  who  started  it. 

Q.  Was  this  gentleman  one  of  the  trustees  ? 

A.  You  can  ascertain  that  by  calling  on  him,  I  presume.     He  is  an  old 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  309 

gentleman  living  here  yet.  He  was  one  of  the  original  commissioners  to 
start  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agricultural  Society.  He  is  quite  an  old 
man  now,  but  has  always  been  very  much  interested  in  agricultural  affairs. 
If  this  letter  will  be  of  any  use  to  you,  I  will  let  you  take  it  with  you. 

Q,  If  you  want  to  give  us  this,  we  will  take  it,  and  consider  it  when  we 
come  to  make  up  our  report  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  you  can  have  it  if  you  wish  it. 

Q.  We  would  like  to  have  your  own  views  on  this  subject,  since  you  have 
been  a  practical  farmer,  Mr.  Sharpless. 

A.  I  have  suggested  to  these  experimental "  farm  clubs"  certain  ideas 
which  seem  to  me  to  be  right  and  proper  with  rej^ard  to  this  thing.  There 
has  been  so  much  said  against  the  college  at  different  times,  and  some 
pretty  hard  things,  too,  that  it  will  be  a  very  difficult  thing  for  the  college 
to  live  it  down,  and  it  will  be  a  great  many  years,  if  it  ever  does  overcome 
the  effect  of  these  reports,  and  the  first  thing  ttiat  would  be  necessary  is 
that  the  management  of  it  be  changed.  It  is  very  evident  that  the  man- 
agement of  the  State  College  has  been  very  bad,  resulting,  no  doubt,  from 
the  incompetency  of  the  men  who  are  at  the  head  of  it.  They  are  to  blame 
for  its  reputation,  and  it  is  a  great  question  that  notwithstanding  the  board 
of  trustees  should  be  changed,  that  it  would  help  matters  very  much.  I 
believe  that  the  college  never  can  be  made  a  success  with  the  amount  of 
moncN'  it  receives.  I  want  you  to  understand  that  personally  I  have  noth- 
ing to  say  ao.ainst  General  Beaver,  nor  have  I  anything  to  say  against  an}* 
of  the  other  gentlemen  who  are,  and  have  been,  acting  as  trustees  of  the 
college.  Xo  doubt  they  were  endeavoring  to  do  all  they  c  uld  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  institution,  only  it  was  left  too  much  to  the  control  of  one  man. 
I  have  nothing  to  do  with  these  persons  who  acted  as  trustees  personally. 
It  is  only  in  their  capacity  as  trustees  of  the  college  of  which  I  complain. 
I  did  suggest,  when  they  were  talking  about  passing  a  law,  to  take  this 
money  from  the  college.  I  suggested  that  the  interest  from  this  land-scrip 
fund  be  taken  awa}'  from  the  college,  as  it  was  doing  no  good  there,  and 
that  it  was  not  being  applied  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  act  of  Congress 
donating  the  land  fund.  That  in  place  of  giving  it  to  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College,  a  chair  should  be  endowed,  with  part  of  it  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  or  some  other  college  in  Philadelphia  of  such  a  character, 
whereby  the  law  giving  us  this  fund  would  be  complied  with.  For  instance, 
say  a  veterinary  chair ;  and  agricultural  chemistry  should  be  brought  out 
in  our  normal  schools,  so  that  it  would  be  within  the  reach  of  our  farmers 
throughout  the  State.  Thirty  thousand  dollars  would  do  that,  and,  in  ad- 
dition to  that,  establish  two  or  three  experimental  farms  or  stations,  and 
put  practical  farmers  there  to  run  them.  An  institution  of  that  kind  is 
what  we  need,  and  persons  who  are  desirous  of  taking  a  course  at  these 
stations,  after  having  gone  through  a  course  of  agricultural  chemistry, 
could  do  so,  and  students  of  that  class  would  be  glad  to  pay  for  their  in- 
struction, as  well  as  to  earn  their  own  living  by  assisting  with  the  experi- 
ments on  the  farm.  My  idea  would  be  that  the  students  pay  for  the  in- 
structions they  receive;  and  for  the  work  they  do  on  the  farm,  leave  that 
go  towards  paying  their  board  while  there.  In  this  waA',  I  think  these 
farms  could  be  made  to  pay  for  themselves,  without  any  material  assistance 
from  outside  sources.  Here  is  a  report  I  had  in  my  pocket.  It  is  a  re- 
port of  committee  of  the  Eastern  Experimentrl  Farm  Club  on  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  College  and  its  relation  to  the  experimental  farms.  I  think 
that  that  report  would  maybe  be  of  some  use  to  you.  [  See  copy  of  report 
appended  at  the  end  of  Mr.  Sharpless'  testimony.] 


310  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  What  more  have  you  to  say,  Mr.  Sharpless,  that  would  be  of  interest 
to  us  ? 

A  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  anything  more  to  say  that  would  throw 
any  light  on  the  subject. 

Q.  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  tell  us,  Mr.  Sharpless,  who  John  Plough- 
share is  ? 

A.  Well,  they  charge  me  with  being  that  person. 

Q.  It  was  you,  then,  that  wrote  the  articles  that  appeared  in  the  AVest 
Chester  Local  News — you  wrote  those  articles  under  the  nom  de  plume  of 
John  Ploughshare  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Those  articles,  no  doubt,  express  your  views  on  this  subject  fully 
and  at  length  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  tried  to  express  them  in  those  articles  as  fully  as  I  was 
able  to  do. 

Q.  Did  you  have  facts  to  base  the  opinion  upon  which  you  have  ex- 
pressed in  those  articles  ?  I  suppose  you  had.  for  I  notice  you  assert 
very  positively  the  charges  you  make  against  the  college  and  the  manage- 
ment of  it.  Now,  what  we  want  is  to  obtain  that  state  of  facts,  if  they 
existed.  I  presume  you  can  give  them  to  us,  as  3'ou  appear  to  have  them, 
judging  from  the  articles  themselves. 

A.  No,  sir;  I  did  not  have  the  facts  personally  when  I  wrote  those  ar- 
ticles ;  I  gleaned  from  the  several  reports  that  mentioned  anything  about 
the  State  College  and  its  management,  and  from  what  was  told  me  by  per- 
sons living  here  in  Chester  county  who  pretended  to  know  of  what  they 
were  speaking. 

Q.  Have  you  examined  the  catalogue  of  the  college  yearly  ? 

A.  Well,  not  every  year  ;  occasionally  I  would  get  one  and  examine  it, 
but  then  I  got  the  report  cr  address  made  by  the  college  to  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  Agricultural  Society,  in  the  annual  report  of  the  societ^^ 

Q.  Are  you  acquainted  with  the  different  members  of  the  faculty  ? 

A.  I  never  was  at  the  college  myself,  and  I  believe  I  do  not  now  know 
any  of  the  professors. 

Q.  Have  you  examined  the  courses  of  instruction,  as  laid  down  in  the 
catalogue,  and  which  are  now  used  there  ? 

A.  I  have  looked  over  them  ;  I  do  not  know  that  I  examined  them  very 
closely. 

Q.  Recently  ? 

A.  Well,  I  have  looked  over  them  from  j^ear  to  year,  as  I  would  get 
hold  of  a  catalogue.     I  understand  they  have  made  some  changes  latel}^ 
but  I  do  not  know  about  that  myself. 
By  Mr.  Mylin : 

Q.  Have  you  anything  further  to  offer  or  say  that  would  help  us  along 
in  our  investigations  ?  We  want  to  know  all  we  can  find  out  about  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  College. 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  believe  I  have  told  you  all  that  I  know  that  would  be  of 
any  benefit  to  you  in  this  thing. 

Q.  How  were  you  satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  the  examinations 
were  conducted  at  the  experimental  farm  yesterday  ? 

A.  I  was  satisfied  very  well  with  it.  I  thought  they  were  conducted  in 
a  proper  spirit  of  investigation ;  that  the  committee  acted  fairly  towards 
all  persons  that  desired  to  say  anything  on  the  subject,  and  that  every- 
body had  an  opportunity  to  say  anything  they  wanted  to. 


Leo.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  Colliqk.  311 

No.  1. 

Report  of  Committee  of  the  Eastern  Experimental  Farm  Club  on  the 
Pennsylvania  State  College,  and  its  relation  to  the  Experimental 
Farm. 

The  following  report  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  above-named  club, 
at  a  meeting  held  January  13,  1881,  and  the  inclosed  petitions  ordered 
to  be  distributed  over  the  State  for  signatures. 

Please  use  your  influence  to  have  these  petitions  well  filled,  and  sen<\  as 
soon  as  possible,  to  your  member  of  the  Legislature. 

Other  persons  desiiing  these  papers  will  address  the  secretary  of  the 
club  at  West  Grove,  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania. 

Respectfully. 

W.  R.  SHELMIRE, 

Secretary. 

Report  of  Committee. 

Your  committee  respectfully  report  that  they  have  carefully  considered 
the  subject  referred  to  them,  and  desire  to  say  that  the  Penns3dvania  State 
College  is  now,  and  has  been  for  several  3ears,  in  receipt  of  an  annual 
income  of  about  $30,0(i0  ;  said  income  derived  from  a  congressional  land- 
grant,  donating  lands  to  our  State  for  special  educational  purposes.  The 
interest  of  the  sum  accruing  from  the  sale  of  these  lands  was  placed  by 
our  Legislature,  under  certain  conditions,  to  the  use  of  this  college.  One 
of  the  conditions,  especially  affecting  us  as  farmers,  was,  that  in  considera- 
tion of  the  receipt  of  this  annual  income,  the  college  should  agree  to 
"  establish,  conduct,  and  maintain  three  experimental  farms,"  which  condi- 
tions the  college  accepted  without  reserve.  But,  your  committee  are  free 
to  say,  that  having  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
Eastern  farm  was  conducted  and  maintained  "  by  the  college,  that  such 
maintenance  was  not  in  accordance  with  the  terms  or  spirit  of  the  Legis- 
lative act  above  referred  to. 

When  the  experimental  farms  were  first  started  the  intelligent  farming 
community  took  a  marked  interest  in  them,  the  Eastern  farm  being  prin- 
cipally stocked  and  equipped  by  citizens  of  Chester  county,  but  the  igno- 
rant management  of  these  farms,  by  the  college,  and  their  niggardh'  main- 
tenance, has  made  them  a  discredit  to  the  farming  communitA',  in  whose 
interests  they  are  supposed  to  be  run,  and,  as  public  institutions,  are  a 
disgrace  to  the  Commonwealth.  But  your  committee  fully  believe  that 
"experimental  farms  "  or  "  experiment  station,"  properly  conducted  and 
maintained,  can  be  made  of  great  value  to  agriculturists  and  to  the  people 
generally ;  and,  therefore,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  State  College  had 
utterly  failed  to  do  its  plain  duty,  in  this  matter,  we  would  suggest  that  you 
petition  the  Legislature  to  compel  a  compliance  with  the  act  referred  to, 
and  secure  it  by  setting  aside  one  third  part  of  this  income  for  the  conduct 
and  maintenance  of  such  farms  or  stations;  and,  further,  as  the  college 
has  shown  such  incompetency  in  the  management  of  such  stations,  that 
the  portion  so  set  aside  shall  be  under  the  control  and  direction  of  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  with  such  restrictions  and  regulations  as  the 
Legislature,  in  its  wisdom,  may  see  fit. 

Your  committee  are  still  willing  to  go  further,  and  say  inasmuch  as  the 
college  trustees  have  so  injuriously  changed  the  character  of  the  college 
from  its  original  design,  as  the  "  Farmers'  High  School,"  as  devised  by 
Doctor  Elwyn  and  other  eminent  men;  and  inasmuch  as  unfortunate 
location  and  previous  bad  management  have  always  made  it  unpopular 


312  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

and  with  no  probable  hope  for  future  usefulness  or  popularity ;  and  inas- 
much as  large  sums  have  been  spent  upon  this  institution  without  an  ade- 
quate return,  therefore,  we  would  further  suggest  that  you  recommend  the 
Legislature  to  substitute  some  better  managed  or  more  popular  institution 
as  the  recipient  of  this  land-grant  fund,  by  endowing  a  professorship  of 
agricultural  and  mechanical  arts,  or  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  may 
deem  best. 

All  of  which  we  respectfully  submit. 

JlVO.  I.  CARTER, 
JOB  H.  JACKSON, 
THOS.  M.  HARVEY, 
BENJ.  W.  SWAYNE, 
SYLVESTER  D.  LINVILL, 
MILTON  CONi\RD. 


John  C.  F.  Hickman,  recalled  and  examined  : 

Q.  You  have  heard  the  charges  of  immoral  influences  surrounding  the 
Pennsylvania  State  College  here  this  morning;  what  do  you  know  about 
the  conduct  of  the  students  while  3'ou  were  there — first  tell  us  when  you 
were  there  ? 

A.  I  was  there  from  the  fall  term  of  1815 — August,  IST.'i — until  the  1st 
of  Jnly,  1^80,  and  as  a  regular  student.  1  went  back  in  November,  1880, 
as  a  post-graduate,  and  remained  there  until  the  1st  of  April,  1881. 

Q.  Did  that  embrace  part  of  the  time  that  Mr,  Shortlidge  was  there  ? 

A.  That  embraced  about  six  months  of  the  time  that  Mr.  Shortlidge 
and  Miss  Belle  were  there.  Of  the  morals  of  the  institution,  or  of  the 
students  rather  connected  with  it,  I  have  only  this  to  say,  that  so  far  as 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  was  concerned  among  the  students  that 
were  there  during  the  whole  time  I  was  there,  either  as  a  special  or  regu- 
lar student,  I  never  saw  on  the  ground  of  the  college  a  single  man  or  stu- 
dent under  the  influence,  or  boy  either.  T  have  seen  students  under  the 
influence  of  liquor  perhaps  at  Bellefonte,  but  not  to  say  a  majoritj^  of  them, 
but  a  limited  number.  As  to  the  use  of  tobacco  at  colleges,  it  is  almost 
a  universal  thing  that  all  students  who  go  to  our  best  colleges  and  univer- 
sities use  it,  and  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  there  ma}^  have  been  a  majority 
of  students  at  the  State  College  who  used  it,  but  if  there  was  a  majority 
of  them  who  used  it,  it  was  very  little  over  the  half,  and  I  doubt  very 
much  whether  any  other  college  in  the  State  can  show  as  few  students  who 
use  tobacco,  or  as  small  percentage  of  them  who  used  it  as  the  Pennsylva- 
nia State  College  can. 

Q.  Was  there  any  eflfort  made  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the  State 
College  to  restrict  the  use  of  tobacco  ? 

A.  The  use  of  tobacco  was,  at  one  time,  forbidden  there  on  the  cnmpus, 
and  the  students  were  not  allowed  10  use  any  tobacco  on  the  campus 
ground  of  the  college,  and  this  order  was  strictly  carried  out,  too.  They 
were  never  allowed  to  use  tobacco  in  the  halls  of  the  building  nor  during 
drill  hours  nor  detail  service. 

Q.  What  were  your  means  of  observations  whether  intoxicating  drinks 
were  used  by  the  students  ? 

A.  My  means,  I  think,  were  equally  as  good  as  the  college  authorities, 
if  not  better  than  the  members  of  the  faculty,  because  I  was  one  of  the 
students  myself,  and  mingled  among  them  more  than  the  members  of  the 
faculty,  and,  if  they  did  use  intoxicating  drinks,  they  would  do  it  with 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  Colliqe.  318 

less  restraint  in  my  presence  than  they  would  in  the  presence  of  any 
member  of  the  facult}'.  I  was  among  the  students  all  the  time.  I  roonied 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  right  in  the  college  building,  among  a  majority 
of  the  students,  and  had  a  very  good  chance  of  knowing,  at  all  times, 
what  the  conduct  of  the  students  was. 

Q.  Your  opportunities  were  equally  as  good  as  any  of  the  teachers,  at 
least  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  they  were  equally  as  good,  if  not  better,  from  the  simple 
fact  that  if  a  student,  when  he  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  he  would 
not  try  as  hard  to  keep  it  from  me,  who  was  only  a  student,  as  he  would 
from  those  in  authority  at  the  college. 

Q.  Did  Mr.  Shortlidge  and  Miss  Belle  live  in  the  college  building  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  they  lived  in  the  president's  house — the  president's  mansion. 
So  far  as  the  students'  rebellion  of  1880  was  concerned,  which  3-ou  have 
heard  so  much  about  this  morning,  I  think  that  the  right  history  of  that 
was  not  given  at  all.  I  think  I  had  at  that  time  a  better  chance  of  know- 
ing the  true  inwardness  of  that  than  Professor  Shortlidge  could  have  had, 
for  I  was  there  as  a  special  student,  and  was  not  under  the  authority  of 
the  officers,  as  the  regular  students  were. 

Q.  That  was  the  time  you  were  thei-e  as  a  post-graduate,  was  it  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  I  was  not  there  during  the  time  of  the  rebellion  ;  but  from 
what  I  learned  after  I  went  there,  and  I  had  a  good  chance  of  hearing  it, 
for  it  was  the  talk  of  the  college  boys  some  time  after  it  happened — I 
heard  it  repeatedly  stated  that  Professor  Shortlidge  caused  all  of  the 
trouble  by  his  ill-temper  and  ill-judged  treatment  of  the  students.  Pro- 
fessor McKee  was,  in  particular,  working  with  Mr.  Shortlidge  in  the  matter, 
and  I  would  hear  say  that  Professor  McKee  never  took  the  part  of  the 
students  at  any  time,  nor  did  he  on  this  occasion  ;  he  always  advised  them 
to  calm  down  and  return  to  their  duties,  and  it  is  utterly  false  that  he  gave 
the  students  any  encouragement  in  anything  further  than  to  say,  "  Boys, 
this  thing  will  all  quiet  down  in  a  few  days,"  and  the  best  thing  to  do  was 
to  get  to  work.  He  never  mentioned  Mr.  Shortlidge's  name  in  reference 
to  him  personally  at  all,  to  any  of  the  students,  further  than  to  say  that 
Mr.  Shortlidge  was  president  of  the  college,  and  he  must  be  of  age. 

Q.  Wbat  was  the  feeling  amongst  the  students  in  regard  to  Professor 
Shortlidge  from  the  time  he  came  there  up  to  the  time  he  left  the  college  ? 

A.  I  could  not  name  one  student  who  I  ever  heard  speak  favorably  of 
Mr.  Shortlidge.  The  senior  class  was  soon  left  to  believe  him  unqualified 
for  the  position,  and  lost  more  or  less  of  the  respect  for  him  of  which  they 
had  very  little  at  first.  That  was  very  much  against  him  as  an  instructor 
in  the  higher  bran3hes.  He  was  considered  cranky,  and  was  regarded  as 
a  very  unsatisfactory  and  incompetent  instructor.  Dr.  Calder,  the  pre- 
ceding president,  was  a  very  efficient  teacher^  and  one  that  gave  us  a  great 
deal  of  assistance  and  instruction.  But  Dr.  Calder  was  unpopular  with 
the  students  on  account  of  his  system  of  government.  All  of  the  stu- 
dents liked  Professor  McKee,  who  was  also  a  very  efficient  instructor,  and 
was  different  from  Dr.  Calder  in  that  he  was  very  popular  with  the  stu- 
dents, consequently  he  had  a  great  deal  of  influence  among  them.  He  did 
more  in  quieting  the  rebellion  that  Professor  Shortlidge  speaks  of,  and 
in  bringing  the  students  under  the  control  of  Professor  Shortlidge,  than 
he  (Professor  Shortlidge)  could  ever  have  done  himcelf.  He  was  very  un- 
popular among  the  students.  We  did  not  consider  his  methods  of  govern- 
ment adapted  to  the  college  at  all ;  it  was  better  suited  for  the  needs  of  an 
academy.     He  would  have  the  same  rules  to  govern  young  men,  who  had 


314  Report  op  the  Committeb.  [No.  18, 

been  their  own  masters  for  a  number  of  years,  as  he  would  for  a  small  boy 
ten  or  twelve  years  old. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  There  was  too  much  of  the  paternal  authority  with  him,  was  there? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  go  through  the  preparatory  department  ? 

A.  I  was  in  the  preparatory  department  for  one  year. 

Q.  Did  you  ever  go  through  the  preparatory  department  of  any  other 
institution  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  never  did.  I  came  from  the  public  schools  when  I  entered 
the  "A"  preparatory  department  of  the  college,  sir. 

Q.  Since  you  have  gone  through  the  preparatory  department,  and  the 
college  course  proper,  and  have  been  there  one  year  as  a  post-graduate,  as 
a  matter  of  course  you  know  something  about  the  methods  pursued  in 
the  preparatory  department;  we  should  like  to  have  your  opinion  on  the 
subject. 

A.  If  there  is  one  thing  that  I  would  oflfer  as  a  criticism  on  the  institu- 
tion it  is  that  there  is  too  much  preparatory  department  connected  with 
the  college  by  one  half,  at  least. 

Allison  O.  Smith,  affirmed  and  examined.: 

Q.  When  did  you  become  connected  with  the  Pennsylvania  State  Col- 
lege ? 

A.  I  entered  that  institution  in  January,  1876. 

Q.  Did  you  enter  the  preparatory  department  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  entered  the  freshman  class  the  second  term,  and  remained 
there  until  June.  1879,  till  I  graduated. 

I  am  constrained  to  take  the  stand  mainly  in  defense  of  the  moral  char- 
acter of  the  institution,  because  I  heard  it  assailed  very  unjustly  here  this 
morning  by  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge.  She  assailed  it  in  a  manner  which  I 
think  did  great  injustice  to  the  institution.  The  moral  character  of  the 
institution  in  1876,  when  I  went  there  first,  was,  without  exception,  as  good 
as  any  institution  in  this  country,  I  would  venture  to  :ay.  I  do  not  think 
a  more  sanctimonious  set  of  students  could  be  found  anywhere  than  what 
was  at  the  State  College  at  that  time.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  had  a  good  repre- 
sentation there  then.  I  suppose  1  am  safe  in  saying  that  one  half  of  the 
boys  at  college  were  members  of  it,  and,  perhaps,  two  thirds  of  them. 
There  was  some  of  them,  of  course,  whose  characters  were  not  of  the  best, 
but  you  are  bound  to  lind  them  in  all  kind  of  these  institutions  and  in  all 
places  ;  and  then  the  institution,  I  think,  is  not  to  blame  for  that,  because 
a  bad  student  happens  to  attend  it ;  but  this  I  say,  I  doubt  whether  there 
is  another  institution  that  has  a  greater  influence — Christian  influence — 
upon  the  character  and  morals  of  the  boys  who  attended  it  than  Pennsyl- 
vania State  College  during  the  time  I  was  student  thei'e.  The  majority  of 
college  students,  as  I  have  always  observed,  are  not  very  much  inclined  to 
Christian  influences,  and  from  what  I  know  of  the  students  of  this  college, 
they  were  very  much  above  the  average  of  college  students  in  that  respect. 
I  know  something  about  other  institutions  in  that  respect :  I  attended  the 
State  Normal  School  at  Bloomsburg.  Immediately  before  going  there, 
and  on  a  comparison  of  the  morals  of  the  two  institutions,  I  would  have 
to  decide  in  favor  of  the  State  College.  The  use  of  intoxicating  drinks 
was  not  indulged  in  at  all  on  the  college  ground,  that  I  ever  knew  of. 
Nowhere  about  there  could  you  obtain  liquor  of  any  kind.  It  was 
prevented  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  which  provided  that  no  liquor 
could  be  sold  within  two  or  three  miles  of  the  college,  and  the  courts  of 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvanfa  State  Colleqk.  315 

Centre  county  never  granted  license  for  the  sale  of  liquor,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, within  live  or  six  miles  of  the  college.  You  can  readily'  see,  there- 
fore, they  would  not  have  that  particular  bad  influence  to  contend  with. 
The  boys  were  like  all  other  college  students,  and  whenever  they  would  get 
to  Beilefonte  some  of  them  would  take  on  a  load ;  but  there  are  students 
in  all  colleges  who  will  do  that.  But  I  have  this  to  say,  I  never  saw  any 
of  them  under  the  influence  of  liquor  on  the  college  ground ;  it  had  gener- 
ally all  passed  off  before  they  returned  to  the  college  ;  and  during  the  years 
that  I  was  there  I  could  not  name  one  of  the  boys  I  ever  observed  drunk. 
I  have  seen  some  under  the  influence  in  Beilefonte.  but  I  do  not  think  they 
were  half  a  dozen  all  put  together,  but  I  never  saw  anyone  drinking  any 
ways  near  the  college  grounds. 

Q.  When  you  say  any  ways  near  the  college,  do  you  mean  two  miles  ? 

Xo,  sir  ;  further  than  that.  1  never  saw  any  of  them  use  liquor  nearer 
than  Beilefonte  or  Pleasant  Gap.  Beilefonte  is  twelve  miles,  and  Pleasant 
Gap  is  eight  miles  from  the  college.  When  I  went  there  I  think  there  was 
liquor  sold  at  Pine  Grove,  which  was  four  miles  from  the  college,  but  I  do 
not  know  of  any  of  the  students  ever  getting  any  there.  The  use  of  to- 
bacco was  also  a  feature  in  this  morning's  testimony.  I,  of  course,  could 
not  say  from  my  personal  knowledge  of  other  places,  but  generally,  young 
men  that  I  know,  who  attended  other  colleges  used  tobacco,  and  used  it 
more  generally  than  what  the  boys  at  the  State  college  did.  I  do  not  think 
there  was  one  half  of  the  boys  used  tobacco  at  the  State  college  while  I 
was  there.  I  used  it  myself  the  first  summer  as  a  smoker;  I  know  there 
was  not  many  of  the  students  that  chewed,  but  there  was  a  number  of 
them  that  smoked  ;  but,  taking  everything  into  consideration, there  was  no 
more  tobacco  used  at  that  college  than  at  any  other. 

Q.  You  say  3'ou  never  saw  any  of  the  bo3's  intoxicated  around  the 
buildings  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  I  do  not  now  recollect  of  a  single  instance  ;  and  as  for  boys 
as  young  as  ten  and  twelve  years  old  smoking  and  drinking  around 
the  building,  I  think  must  be  magnified,  for  there  never  was  any  stu- 
dents attended  there  at  that  age,  except  the  children  of  the  professors, 
and  they  were  always  instructed  in  a  special  class.  As  to  the  government 
of  the  college,  I  would  like  to  give  you  a  short  history  of  that :  When  I 
first  went  there.  Professor  Grawbowski  had  charge  of  the  military  depart- 
ment, apd  while  in  such  charge  introduced  some  very  obnoxious  rules. 
While  there  was  no  determined  opposition  to  them  by  the  students,  it  was 
still  a  matter  that  kept  things  from  movina:  on  in  as  harmonious  a  manner 
as  might  be.  When  I  first  went  there,  the  students  in  the  preparatory 
department  were  not  separated  from  those  in  the  college  proper,  conse- 
quently, the  college  students  had  to  come  under  the  same  government 
that  the  "  preps  "  were  under.  Well,  now,  there  were  some  students  at 
the  college  who  ware  joung  men,  and  it  was  asking  rather  much  of  them 
to  come  under  the  same  discipline  that  would  be  required  for  a  boy  from 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  There  were  some  young  men  there 
from  twentj'  to  twenty-five,  and  some  that  were  well  on  to  thirty  3'ears  of 
age,  and  from  twenty  down  to  fourteen  and  fifteen,  the  government  was 
alike  for  all.  One  of  the  obnoxious  rules  that  Grabowski  introduced  was 
to  have  the  professor  who  had  charge  of  the  various  floors  of  the  college 
to  walk  through  the  halls  and  be  constantly  watching  the  boys. 

The  boys  were  required  to  keep  certain  hours,  from  eight  to  eleven  ; 
durinrr  that  time  they  had  to  be  in  their  rooms,  and  if  they  left  at  any  time 
without  permission  they  were  reported  to  the  professor  and  put  on  detail, 
which  consisted  of  such  work  as  hauling  ashes,  and  other  disagreeable 


316  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

work  like  it.  That  was  my  first  experience  of  detail  work.  We  had  to  do 
this  work,  and  were  liable  to  be  expelled  from  the  institution  if  we 
neglected  or  refused  to  do  it.  This  was  in  1876,  when  Dr.  Calder  and 
Grabowski  were  there. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  a  rebellious  spirit  manifested  during  that  year. 
There  was  students  there  that  were  young  men  who  came  there  for  the 
purpose  of  improving  their  time  in  the  way  of  obtaining  an  education,  and 
who  would  not  submit  to  that  kind  of  subjection.  Now  this  was  very 
objectional,  and  there  were  loud  cries  against  it  on  the  part  of  the  students, 
and  it  gradually  led  to  a  falling  off  of  the  students.  And  then  the  faculty 
at  the  same  time  did  not  work  harmoniously  together  ;  but  I  never  knew 
much  about  the  quarrels  and  bickerings  in  the  faculty.  This  state  of 
affairs  would  naturally,  and  did  to  a  very  large  extent,  create  a  great  objec- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  students  to  Dr.  Calder  and  Professor  Grawbowski. 

During  the  first  two  years  of  my  stay  there,  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
dissatisfaction  among  the  students;  that  kind  of  discipline  was  very  much 
against  the  success  of  the  college*. 

As  to  Professor  Smith,  who  has  been  so  severely  assailed  here  this  morn- 
ing, I  can  say  this  in  his  defense,  that  when  I  became  a  student  at  the 
State  College  the  laboratories  were  very  poorly  supplied,  and  a  great  many 
of  the  changes  and  improvements  that  had  been  made  in  the  scientific 
departments  are  due,  to  a  very  large  degree,  to  the  untiring  efforts  of  Pro- 
fessor Smith. 

Aboiit  the  time  Smith  came  there,  you  could  notice  a  more  lenient 
measure  in  the  government  of  the  institution.  A  government  that  was 
more  acceptable  to  the  students  of  the  State  College.  You  saw  soon  a 
decided  improvement  in  the  management  of  the  College.  The  college 
department  was  separated  from  the  preparatory  department,  and  the 
students  belonging  to  it  roomed  in  one  part  of  the  building  by  themselves, 
while  the  "  preps  "  were  put  by  themselves,  and  things  began  to  improve 
in  every  respect.  The  government  of  the  college  was  raised  to  a  higher 
standard,  and  tbey  kept  on  doing  so  until  Professor  Shortlidge  came  there, 
when  he  appeared  to  reduce  it  to  what  it  had  been  when  I  first  entered 
there.  It  seemed  to  me  he  tried  to  bring  the  government  of  the  college 
down  to  what  I  considered  would  be  a  proper  government  for  an  academy 
or  an  institution  of  learnina:  for  small  children.  He  had  a  certain  disci- 
pline that  was  adapted  to  children,  and  he  tried  to  bring  young  men  who 
were  twenty-five  and  thirty  years  of  age  under  the  same  discipline  that  he 
had  introduced  to  a  boy  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  instead  of 
raising  the  standard  of  discipline  and  government  of  the  college,  it  seemed 
to  be  getting  lower  and  lower. 

Q.  Do  you  consider  the  college  a  success  as  an  institution  of  learning  ? 

A.  I  went  through  college  there,  and  took  a  classical  course, and  I  believe 
I  have  received  as  thorough  an  education  as  many  a  student  does  at  the 
higher  colleges  in  the  country,  such  as  Yale,  Princeton,  Cornell.  &c.  While 
the  facilities  were  not  as  good  at  the  State  College  as  they  are  at  the  col- 
leges I  have  named,  still  a  young  man  who  desires  to  obtain  a  good  educa- 
tion can  do  so  at  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.  I  think  it  depends  a 
great  deal  on  the  student  himself  whether  he  will  receive  a  thorough  edu- 
cation by  going  through  college,  and  that  the  name  of  the  institution  has 
very  little  to  do  with  it.  As  a  matter  of  course,  at  some  of  the  institutions 
an  education  can  be  obtained  with  less  labor  on  the  part  of  the  student, 
because  of  the  better  facilities.  But  as  an  institution  of  learning  I  would 
have  to  say  that  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  I  think,  is  a  failure,  not 
because  of  the  mismanagement  of  it,  but  because  there  never  has  been 


LiG.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  317 

enouirh  mone}'  to  run  it.  Thirty  thousand  dollars  is  not  enough  money  to 
run  a  college  like  it,  but,  I  think,  if  they  had  a  proper  sum  of  money  to  run 
the  college,  it  might  be  made  as  successful  an  institution  as  any  in  the 
country.  I  think  the  preparatory  department  should  not  be  connected 
with  it.  I  think  a  course  should  be  established  in  our  State  normal  schools 
as  a  preparatory  training  to  entering  the  State  College.  If  there  were  a 
system  of  education  adopted  in  this  State  that  by  entering  our  public 
schools,  and  by  finishing  the  course  prescribed  in  our  public  schools,  you 
could  fit  yourself,  and  receive  a  certificate  for  admission  to  the  State  nor- 
mal school,  and  by  completing  the  course  there  laid  down,  you  would  re- 
ceive a  certificate  of  admission  to  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  where 
the  facilities  ought  to  be  such  as  to  enable  you  to  obtain  the  highest  stand- 
ard of  any  kind  of  an  Englisn  education.  I  do  not  think  the  preparatory 
department  should  at  any  time  be  connected  with  a  college  proper.  One 
reason  is  why  it  should  not  that  there  are  always  certain  ditBculties  arising 
between  the  higher  and  lower  classes,  which  lead  to  move  or  less  hazing 
on  the  part  of  the  students.  Now  this  could  be  avoided,  if  there  was  no 
preparatory  department  connected  with  the  college,  and  there  are  other 
reasons  that  could  be  given  which  would  be  worthy  of  consideration. 

G.  A-.  Smith,  sworn  and  examined : 

Mr.  Smith,  will  you  please  go  on  and  detail  to  us  your  connection  with 
the  Pennsylvania  State  College — especial!}'  with  reference  to  the  building 
of  the  house  that  we  have  heard  so  much  about  ? 

A.  I  graduated  at  the  Penns3'lvania  State  College  in  1861.  Was  assist- 
ant professor  of  chemistry  until  December,  1864.  Returned  to  the  college 
as  professor  of  chemistry  and  physics  in  18T7.  Am  now  professor  of  gen- 
eral chemistr}^,  but  my  connection  with  the  faculty  of  the  college  will  ter- 
m.inate  at  the  close  of  the  present  collegiate  year,  June  30. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1879  I  was  asked  by  the  executive  committee  of 
the  board  of  trustees,  through  the  secretary  of  the  board,  to  prepare  and 
submit  to  the  committee  plans  for  a  dwelling  proposed  to  be  erected  for 
my  use.  I  received  no  intimation  as  to  the  nature  of  material  to  be  used 
in  construction  or  proposed  cost.  I  was  told  that  the  house  must  be 
sufficiently-  large  to  meet  the  wants  of  whatever  family  might  succeed  me 
in  its  occupancy,  and  that  in  style  it  was  desired  to  have  a  building  differ- 
ent in  appearances,  both  inside  and  outside,  from  any  building  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  college.  I  prepared  outline  plans,  and  had  them  finished 
up  by  Architect  D.  Miller,  of  Harrisburg. 

The  plans  were  submitted  to  the  board  of  trustees  at  tlieir  meeting,  in 
in  June,  18T9,  and  a  resolution  passed,  instructing  the  executive  commit- 
tee to  make  contracts  for  the  erection  of  a  dwelling  for  the  use  of  the  pro- 
fessor of  chemistrj',  according  to  plans  furnished  by  Architect  Miller.  The 
building  to  be  erected  of  limestone  rock.  There  was  no  appropriation  of 
a  specific  sum  of  money  to  cover  cost.  I  at  once,  with  the  assistance  and 
advice  of  Architect  Miller,  completed  the  plans  and  prepared  specifications 
for  the  work  and  procured  bids.  On  the  12th  of  August,  1879,  the  bids 
were  submitted  to  the  executive  committee.  I  considered  the  lowest 
bidder  irresponsible  and  was  opposed  to  the  contract  being  let  to  him,  but 
I  had  no  voice  in  the  matter.  I  submitted  the  several  bids,  explained 
what  I  knew  of  the  various  contractors,  and  withdrew  from  the  committee- 
room.  Before  leaving  the  room  I  stated  that  it  was  my  desire  that  in 
awarding  the  contract  they  should  also  determine  what  oversight,  if  any, 
I  should  have  to  work,  stating  that  if  the  business  manager  was  to  build 
the  house  I  wished  to  be  relieved  of  the  responsibility  for  the  quality  of  the 


318  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

work.  If  I  were  given  charge  of  the  work,  then  it  must  be  understood 
that  the  business  manager  should  not  interfere  with  the  contract.  The 
contract  was  awarded,  viz  :  mason  work  to  Jesse  Stewart,  carpenter  work 
and  finishing  to  R.  A.  Laird,  both  of  Beilefonte.  I  was  given  the  exclu- 
sive oversight  of  the  work. 

The  combined  contracts  amounted  to  about  $4,81^0,  This  sum  was  ex- 
clusive of  water  supply  and  fixtures,  heating  apparatus,  grading  grounds, 
construction  of  driving  road  and  walk  to  the  house,  &c.  And  it  was  well 
understood  that  these  additions  would  involve  considerable  additional  out- 
lay. My  instructions  were  to  execute  a  good  job,  and  see  that  the  work, 
in  every  respect,  was  such  as  would  invite  favorable  critiscism.  As  the 
work  progressed  various  additions  and  alterations  became  necessary,  and 
when  the  building  was  under  roof  it  became  evident  that  the  attic,  which 
was  so  roomy  as  to  really  constitute  a  third  floor,  should  be  finished,  and 
the  house  thereby  made  large  enough  for  any  famil^y  which  might  occupy 
it.  1  had  no  authority  to  make  a  dollar  of  debt  for  the  college,  and  I  did 
not  do  so;  but  in  every  case  where  I  made  an  addition  or  an  alteration,  I 
made  special  contract,  in  my  own  name,  for  the  work.  In  the  same  manner, 
as  there  was  no  appropriation  for  grading  road  building,  I  did  this  work  at 
my  own  expense. 

Work  upon  the  foundation  was  commenced  August  14,  1879,  and  my 
family  occupied  this  house  on  May  14, 1880.  In  June,  18"^(),  I  submitted  a 
report  to  the  board  of  trustees,  I  have  not  this  report  with  me,  and  cannot 
give  the  exact  figures.  I  explained  what  I  had  done  regarding  charges  and 
extra  work,  and  stated  that  for  all  these  items  I  had  made  full  and  complete 
settlements  with  the  contractors  or  workmen,  and  there  was  no  claim  against 
the  college  for  any  of  these  items.  I  explained  that  I  had  in  this  way  paid 
settlements  for  bills  amounting  to  about  $I,H84,  and  that  of  this  amount  I 
had  vouchers  for  $1,262  34.  I  asked,  that  if  the  board  approve  of  my 
course,  in  the  execution  of  the  work,  that  they  should  cause  to  be  issued 
to  me  an  obligation  of  the  college  for  $1,262  34,  maturing  five  years  after 
date,  without  interest ;  such  an  obligation  was  issued  to  me,  bearing  date 
February  5,  1881,  at  five  years,  without  interest,  for  $1,262  34.  Regarding 
a  lien,  af  erwards  put  upon  the  building  and  settled  for  $767,  I  knew 
nothing  of  this  claim. 

The  lien  was  for  lumber,  which  should  have  been  settled  for  by  the  contrac- 
tor, R.  A.  Laird.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  business  manager  to  see  that  all  ac- 
counts for  material  were  settled  before  paying  off  the  contractor.  I  was 
not  responsible  for  the  lien. 


Bush  House,  Bellefonte,  Centre  County,  Pennsylvania, 

Monday,  9,  p.  m.,  June  26th,  1882. 
Sub-committee  met :  present.  Senator  J.  C.  Newmeyer,  (who  presided 
in  the  absence  of  Senator  Mylin,  chairman  of  the  sub-committee,)  Senator 
Alexander,  and  Messrs.  Roberts  and  Hall ;  also,  Mr.  Bierly,  of  the  general 
committee.  The  minutes  of  the  last  meetings  of  the  sub-committee  were 
read,  and  on  motion,  approved. 

Messrs.  Orvis,  and  Beaver,  and  Gordon,  trustees  of  the  State  College, 
were  present  by  request  of  the  sub-committee,  when,  on  motion,  Hon. 
Judge  Orvis  was  sworn,  and  a  portion  of  his  testimony  taken,  at  length, 
by  J.  Irvin  Hagerman,  stenographer  for  the  committee.  Adjourned  at 
11.40,  P.  M.,  until  to-morrow,  9,  a.  m. 

GEO.  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 


Leg.  Doc]  Psnnsylvakia  State  Collegb.  819 

Hon,  John  H.  Orvis,  sworn: 
By  Senator  Alexander  : 

Q.  Judge  Orvis,  when  did  you  first  become  connected  with  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  College,  ofHcially  or  otherwise  ?  Give  us  a  statement  of  your 
connection  with  the  college  and  of  its  management. 

A.  I  first  became  connected  with  the  college  in  any  official  capacity  in  1»68 
or  1869,  when  I  was  president  of  the  Centre  County  Agricultural  Society,  as 
such  a  visiting  member  of  the  board  of  trustees.  I  was  invited  by  one  of 
the  trustees,  Mr.  McAllister,  who  resided  here,  and  accompanied  him  fre- 
quently to  the  college  to  the  meetings  of  the  board,  for  the  period  while  I 
was  acting  as  president  of  the  Centre  County  Agricultural  Society.  In 
the  summer  of  1872  I  sent  my  son  there  as  a  student,  and,  while  I  was  no 
longer  president  of  the  agricultural  society,  I  paid  a  good  deal  of  attention 
to  the  college,  in  consequence  of  having  my  son  there  as  a  student.  I  was 
elected  a  trustee  of  the  college  by  the  electors  at  their  meeting  in  June, 
1875,  and  have  been  a  trustee  from  that  time  to  the  present,  acting  all  the 
time,  with  the  exceptien  of  some  three  or  four  months  in  the  winter  of  '80 
and  '81,  when  I  did  not  act  as  a  member  of  the  board.  I  sent  to  the  presi- 
dent of  the  board  a  resignation  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fall  or  early  in  the 
winter  of  18SU  and  1?>81  which,  however,  was  not  presented  to  the  board 
and  not  acted  upon,  and  in  the  spring  of  1881  I  resumed  my  place  in  the 
board  and  of  the  executive  committee.  During  the  whole  time  that  I  have 
been  a  member  of  the  board,  from  June,  1875,  up  to  the  present  time,  I 
was  a  member  of  the  executive  of  the  board  also. 

Q.  Please  go  on  and  state.  Judge  Orvis,  what  has  been  your  observa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  management  of  the  institution,  and  its  general  con- 
duct from  that  time  up  to  the  present. 

A.  When  1  first  had  my  attention  called  particularly  to  the  college  and 
visited  it,  and  became  interested  in  its  management,  it  was  then,  as  now, 
in  the  control  of  the  board  of  trustees  which  met  twice  a  year  regularly, 
summer  meetings  at  commencement  at  the  college,  and  the  meeting,  ordi- 
narily in  January,  at  Harrisburg.  At  that  time  there  was  no  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  board,  and  during  the  interim  between  meetings  of  the  board, 
almost  the  entire  management  of  all  departments  of  the  institution  was 
confided  to  the  president  of  the  facult}'.  I  believe  when  I  first  went  there 
the  office  of  business  manager  had  not  been  created,  and  the  entire  business 
of  the  college  was  in  the  control  of  the  president  of  the  faculty — manag- 
ing of  the  business,  the  entire  disposition  of  it  and  ever\i;hing  pertaining 
to  it,  between  the  two  meetings  of  the  board.  Of  course,  he  was  aided  and 
assisted  as  far  as  possible  by  the  labor  of  the  resident  trustee,  at  that  time, 
Mr.  McAllister.  The  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  at  that  time  was 
Judge  Watts,  who,  1  believe,  was  the  first  president  of  the  board,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  president  of  the  board  after  his  appointment  as  commissioner 
of  agriculture  at  Washington,  until  the  meeting  of  the  board  in  1874,  he 
resigned  his  position  as  president.  I  never  attended  any  meeting  of  the 
board  at  Harrisburg  prior  to  my  being  a  member  of  the  board  myself.  I 
did  attend  several  meetings  of  the  board  at  the  college  in  the  summer  at 
the  annual  commencement,  and  was  present  at  the  meeting,  but  I  was  not 
familiar  enough  with  the  details  of  the  management,  I  believe,  to  under- 
stand at  that  time  what  was  going  on,  and  therefoi'e  can  give  very  little  of 
what  the  management  was  then,  except  as  I  have  learned  it  since  I  was  or 
became  a  member  of  the  board.  I  believe,  at  that  time,  there  was  no  83'S- 
tem  of  appropriation  of  the  income  of  the  college  made  bj'  the  board 
annually. 


320  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Newmeyer  : 

Q.  At  what  time  do  you  refer  to  ? 

A.  18'i8  to  1872,  the  first  four  years  that  I  was  .  .  .  of  the  college. 
As  I  stated,  there  were  no  regular  appropriations  made  by  the  board  an- 
nually. 

Q.  No  division  ? 

A.  They  made  a  contract  with  the  professors,  and  the  president  of  the 
faculty  was  expected  to  manage  it  according  to  the  best  of  his  judgment. 
In  fact,  he  had  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  management  upon  himself 
during  the  six  months  between  the  meeting  of  the  board,  taking  advice  as 
best  he  could  from  the  individual  trustees  when  any  emergency  arose. 

Q.  From  the  local  trustee  ? 

A.  At  that  time  but  one  trustee  was  living  in  Centre  county.  There 
had  been,  I  believe — Judge  Hale  had  been  at  a  previous  history  of  the 
college,  but  was  not  at  that  time.  Mr.  McAllister  was  president  during 
that  time  and  continued  so  until  he  died.  At  that  time  the  college  was 
very  much  in  debt.  A  floating  debt  had  accumulated  of  over  $55,<iu<',  that 
had  accummulated  in  the  they  had  been  running  in  debt  there. 

There  was  also  a  mortgage  debt  upon  the  college  of  $S0, 00  J,  bearing  seven 
per  cent,  interest,  which  had  been  funded,  I  believe,  in  1872.  It  was  a 
debt  incurred  in  the  erection  of  the  college  building,  the  amount  that  it 
cost  over  and  above  the  estimate.  I  understood  it  was  founded  in  l»72. 
The  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  building  had  been  made  prior  to  the  war 
and  sufficient  money  raised  by  donations,  voluntary  suljscriptions,  and 
Legislature  appropriationsto  pay  the  estimate,  but  change  in  material  and 
labor  the  building  cost  them  $80,000  over  and  above  the  estimate,  and  no 
means  had  been  provided  to  pay  that.  It  was  carried  as  a  floating  debt 
until  finally  a  mortgage  was  given  upon  the  college  property  in  1»66.  The 
mortgage  run  for  ten  years  and  matured  in  1876.  By  provision  of  the 
Legislature  the  college  secured  the  interest  on  $5U0,000,  annually,  which 
was  payable  half-yearly,  the  interest  payable  semi-annually.  This,  as  near 
as  I  can  state,  was  the  financial  condition  of  the  college  in  the  spring  of 
1873,  when  Mr.  McAllister,  one  of  the  original  trustees,  who  continued 
from  the  beginning  of  the  college  to  the  time  of  his  death,  and  had  become 
deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  the  college  at  that  time.  I  attended 
the  meeting  of  the  board,  though  I  was  not  a  representative  of  the  agri- 
cultural society  in  this  county,  but  the  college  of  electors  elected  a  new 
member  of  the  board  in  l«73.  The  then  president  of  the  college  asked 
me  to  take  the  trusteeship  made  vacant  by  Mr.  McAllister's  death.  I  was 
so  doubtful  about  the  result  of  the  college,  of  getting  the  college  out  of 
its  financial  difficulties,  that  I  did  not  want  to  resume  the  responsibility, 
and  urged  the  election  of  General  Beaver,  and  he  was  elected  at  that  meet- 
ing. 1  remember  distinctly  of  having  a  long  talk  with  General  Beaver  on 
the  way  home  about  the  college,  on  his  action,  and  getting  over  the  many 
difficulties  that  lay  in  its  success,  and  the  load  of  responsibility  that  he 
had  assumed  in  going  into  the  board  at  that  time.  I  was  not  connected 
officially  with  the  college  from  that  time  until  June,  1875,  but  having  a  son 
there  as  a  student,  I  visited  it  frequently,  and  was  quite  familiar  with  most 
of  what  occurred  in  the  management  of  it.  I  know  that  during  these  two 
years  many  important  changes  in  its  management  occurred.  About  that 
time  the  business  manager  was  elected  to  relieve  the  President  from  the 
care  of  the  ordinary  busmess  of  the  college  and  farms.  A  system  of  spe- 
cific appropriations  was  adopted,  made  annual  appropriations  of  the  in- 
come to  specific  purposes,  and  attempted  to  confine  the  expenditures  to 
those  purposes  in  order  to  see  what  each  would  cost.     A  certain  portion 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  821 

of  the  revenue  of  the  college  was  set  aside  as  a  sinking  fund,  with  which 
to  liquidate  this  floating  debt.  As  I  stated  before,  in  June,  1874,  Judge 
Watts  resigned  the  presidency  of  the  board  of  trustees,  because  his  duties 
at  Washington  occupied  so  much  of  his  time  and  he  had  become  so  old 
and  infirm  and  could  not  give  attention  to  it,  and  .    .      Judge  Watts 

continued  president  until  June,  1875,  when  his  term  expired,  and  he  de- 
clined to  remain  in  the  board,  and  I  was  elected  as  trustee  to  fill  the  place 
made  vacant  by  him.  From  that  time  to  the  present  I  have  acted  as  a 
member  of  the  board,  having  been  reelected  in  l878  and  188 1,  and  have  at- 
tended all  the  meetings  of  the  board  except  two ;  one  of  the  meetings  at 
Harrisburg  I  was  engaged  in  holding  court  in  Clearfield  and  could  not  at- 
tend ;  the  other  meeting  was  one  in  Harrisburg  in  1881,  and  I  sent  in  my 
resignation  and  did  not  attend. 

Q.  Well,  Judge,  since  your  connection  with  the  college,  as  a  member  of 
the  board  of  trustees,  will  you  state  what  you  have  done  with  regard  to 
increase  attendance  of  the  students,  and  state,  if  you  please,  in  detail,  the 
general  management  of  it  by  the  board  of  trustees  and  by  the  executive 
committee? 

A.  I  will  state  that,  prior  to  my  becoming  a  member  of  the  board,  an- 
other change  which  occurred  in  the  management  of  it.  An  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  was  appointed  to  manage 
the  affairs  of  the  college  between  the  regular  meetings  of  the  board, thereby 
relieving  the  president  of  the  faculty  of  a  great  part  of  the  responsibility 
that  had  been  previously  upon  him. 

Q.  Of  whom  did  that  executive  committee  consist  ? 

A.  The  president  of  the  faculty  and  the  resident  member  of  the  board 
living  in  the  community.  The  first  consisted  of  the  president  of  the 
faculty,  Greneral  Beaver,  and  the  vice-president ;  tliat  was  the  first  execu- 
tive committee,  and  the  board  entrusted  to  that  committee  the  control  and 
management  of  the  college  between  the  regular  meetings  of  the  board. 
Regular  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  that  committee  were  kept,  and  they 
were  submitted  to  the  board  at  each  meeting,  and  adopted  or  disapproved 
as  the  case  might  be ;  so  that  all  of  the  management,  as  far  as  the  control 
of  the  executive  committee  was  concerned,  was  adopted  subsequently  b}' 
the  board,  and  made  the  action  of  the  board.  Between  the  election  of 
General  Beaver,  m  June,  1878,  and  my  election,  some  considerable  amount 
of  this  floating  debt  had  been  liquidated  through  this  sinking  fund  that 
had  been  created.  1  cannot  state,  without  referring  to  reports,  the  exact 
amount  of  the  floating  debt  when  I  became  a  member  of  the  board,  but  it 
was  somewhere  between  $45,000  and  $^0,000.  I  believe  the  whole  of  the 
mortgage  debt  still  existed.  At  that  time  there  was  no  water  supplj'  for 
the  college,  except  by  means  of  cisterns  supplied  with  rain  water  from  the 
roofs  of  the  building.  This  water  was  complained  of,  and  was  very  ob- 
jectionable, in  summer  season  especially.  If  it  was  a  long,  dry  summer,  and 
if  the  cistern  would  sometimes  spring  a  leak,  it  was  not  a  certain  supply  of 
water.  There  was  no  means  by  which  the  building  could  be  protected 
from  danger  by  fire  with  this  water.  There  was  no  system  of  sewerage 
under  the  college  buildings,  but  a  complete  system  has  been  adopted  and 
completed;  an  artesian  well  sunk, and  reservoir  constructed, holding  some 
eighty  thousand  gallons  of  water,  and  this  water  carried  all  through  the 
college  building ;  so  that  there  is  water  in  all  parts  of  the  building,  and 
of  good  quality,  and  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  it.  The  water  works, 
sinking  of  the  well,  constructing  of  the  reservoir,  putting  in  the  pipes, 
engine,  all  the  other  things  to  complete  it,  and  sewerage,  cost  some  $i2,m()0 
or  f  13,000,  all  of  which  have  been  paid  for.  The  building  was  heated  by 
21— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


322  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

stoves  in  the  rooms.  It  had  originally  been  intended  to  heat  it  by  fur- 
naces, and  a  large  number  originally  placed  in  the  building;  but  it  was 
thought  it  would  not  answer,  besides  being  expensive,  heating  portions  of  the 
building  too  warm,  and  other  parts  not  comfortable,  and  had  been  aban- 
doned ;  and  stoves  were  found  to  be  too  expensive  to  fire,  great  many 
chances  of  fires,  and  the  halls  and  corridors  were  not  heated  at  all.  When 
the  water  was  put  in  the  building,  it  was  found  necessary  to  modify  the 
cold  to  keep  the  water  from  freezing  in  cold  weather.  We  put  in  a  com- 
plete system  of  steam  pipe  in  the  rooms,  halls,  laboratories,  chapel,  and  all 
the  corridors.  That  has  all  been  paid  for,  costing  some  $8,0i  o  or  $l(>,0(iO. 
The  exact  figures  for  each  of  these  improvements  the  business  manager 
can  furnish,  if  he  has  not  already  done  so.  An  engine-house  has  been 
built,  the  upper  second  story  of  which  is  used  for  a  mechanic  workshop 
for  the  students  in  mechanic  arts.  A  new  dwelling-house,  a  very  fine  one, 
costing  about  $7,000,  has  been  built  and  paid  for.  The  floating  debt  has 
been  reduced,  b}^  an  appropriation  ■  f  the  semi-annual  interest  in  February 
to  it,  to  about  $30,000.  The  mortgage  debt  was  paid  by  an  appropriation 
made  by  the  Legislature,  so  that  the  only  debt  remaining  upon  the  college 
at  the  present  time  is  the  balance  of  the  floating  debt,  which  is  reduced 
very  nearly  one  half  from  what  it  was  eight  or  nine  years  ago,  and  these 
improvements  made,  amounting,  in  the  aggregate,  between  $30,000  and 
$40,000,  which  have  all  been  paid  for. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

What  appropriations  have  been  made  and  paid  out  of  the  State  treasury 
in  the  meantime  ? 

A.  There  is  no  appropriation  by  the  State  except  the  one  appropriation 
to  pay  this  mortgage  debt  of  $80,000,  and  that  was  not  paid  by  the  State 
treasurer  for  more  than  two  years  after  the  act  was  passed  authorizing  it 
to  be  paid.  It  was  alleged  that  there  was  a  deficiency  in  the  treasury,  and 
it  was  postponed  to  the  last  moment.  The  income  of  the  college  from  the 
endowment  fund  was  $30,'iOO,  arising  from  the  land  scrip  fund.  The  bond 
has  been  for  $500,000,  deposited  with  the  treasurer,  the  interest  payable 
semi-annually  to  the  college.  That  is  payable  on  the  first  days  of  February 
and  August — $15,000  on  each  paymfnt.  I  presume  all  the  members  of  the 
committee  are  familiar  with  the  history  of  that  bond  and  what  it  arises 
from. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Yes  ;  we  had  that  offered  in  evidence. 
By  Judge  Orvis  : 

There  is  no  charge  for  education  or  any  other  income  from  the  students 
except  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  college  building.  There  is  a  charge,  a 
small  sum,  for  room-rent,  rents  for  furniture  and  heating,  and  items  called 
incidentals  for  heating  recitation-rooms  and  their  public  rooms.  But  the 
policy  of  the  trustees  was  to  make  those  charges  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
building,  that  is,  keeping  up  the  furniture  and  repairs  around  the  building, 
and  the  charges  have  been  made  as  light  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  business 
manager  and  the  opinion  of  the  trustees,  would  bear  those  expenses.  They 
amount  now  to  about  forty  dollars  a  year  to  a  student.  They  did  amount 
to  between  sixty  and  seventy  dollars,  but  they  were  reduced  some  year  or 
two  ago.  That  is  all,  and  of  course  the  college  gets  no  benefit  from  those 
charges  other  than  to  pay  the  expenses  that  the  building  costs  annually. 
The  system  adopted  since  I  have  been  in  the  board  is  to  make  a  specific 
appropriation  of  the  money,  at  the  meetings  in  January,  of  this  $80,000 
to  the  different  departments,  and  to  attempt  to  confine  these  expenses 
within  these  appropriations  of  the  several  departments  for  the  year.  Some 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  328 

of  the  appropriations  are  exhausted  to  a  small  amount,  and  there  is  a  sur- 
plus from  some  other  one  which  is  carried  into  the  general  treasury  at  the 
end  of  the  year. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  are  familiar  with  the  act  of  Congress  and  the  several  acts  of  the 
Legislature  in  regard  to  this  institution,  and  also  familiar  with  its  man- 
agement for  the  last  seven  or  eight  years.  Could  the  expenditures  of  that 
college  be  curtailed,  in  your  opinion,  and  at  the  same  time  comply  with 
the  requirements  of  the  act  of  Congress  to  it,  in  maintaining  a  college 
whose  principal  object  is  to  teach  those  branches  which  appertain  to  the 
science  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  and  not  excluding  the  classical 
studies  and  including  military  tactics  ? 

A.  I  believe  that  1  have  voted  for  each  appropriation  made  by  the  board 
since  I  have  been  a  member  of  it,  except  the  one  made  in  January,  1881, 
when  I  was  absent ;  and,  of  course,  when  I  voted  for  these  appropiations, 
I  believed  that  they  were  as  economically  made  as  the  fund  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  trustees  would  allow — expended  as  well,  I  believe,  as  it  could 
be  under  the  circumstances.  There  may  have  been  mistakes  in  the  ex- 
penditure of  money.  We  can  see  very  clearly  now  that  mistakes  were 
made  by  former  members  of  the  trustees.  I  will  instance  one  :  The  heat- 
ing apparatus  of  these  furnaces,  originally,  was  a  mistake.  It  was  not 
effective,  and  was  not  applicable. 

Q.  Please  state  when  they  were  made. 

A.  I  do  not  know. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Before  you  were  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes ;  twenty  years  before.  They  had  sixteen  Chilton  furnaces 
that  cost  considerable.  I  do  not  know  how  much ;  must  have  been  $600 
each.  I  have  no  doubt  when  the  trustees  selected  that  mode  of  heating 
they  acted  upon  the  best  information  they  could  get,  and  believed  it  to  be 
the  most  economical ;  but  it  turned  out  to  be  otherwise.  That  money 
could  have  been  saved.  We  can  see  several  mistakes  in  the  design  of  the 
building  itself. 

Q.  1  understand  the  location  of  the  building  was  ? 

A.  I  am  not  conscious  that  any  have  been  made. 
By  Mr  Alexander : 

Q.  I  desire  to  go  back  to  the  history  of  the  beginning  of  the  college, 
and  you  are  more  familiar  with  that  than  anybody  else,  unless  it  be  Gen- 
eral Beaver. 

A.  Ever  since  I  have  known  anything  about  the  college,  for  several 
years  before  1  was  a  trustee,  and  ever  since,  the  board  have  felt  themselves 
cramped  and  unable  to  do  many  things  that  they  would  liked  to  have  done, 
for  want  of  sufficient  means.  It  took,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  $5,600, 
annuallj',  to  pay  the  interest  of  this  mortgage  debt,  which  the  State  ought 
to  have  paid,  and  no  part  of  this  endowment  fund  could  be  used  for  that 
purpose  of  paying  the  interest  of  this  floating  debt  hence,  it  necessarily 
took  a  large  amount  of  funds  that  might  have  been  applied  to  the  educa- 
cation  department  of  the  college  and  devoted  to  another  purpose.  It  was 
always  a  close  question  of  the  right  to  appropriate  the  $5,600  to  pay 
interest,  being  the  building  debt,  when  the  act  of  Congress  appropriated 
no  part  of  the  interest  of  that  land  scrip  fund  to  being  applied  directly  or 
indirectly  for  building  purposes.  I  believe  when  it  was  originally  done, 
the  board  of  trustees  safcistied  their  conscience  they  had  a  right  to  do  it. . 
$90,000  added  by  the  State,  and  as  interest  of  this  six  per  cent.,  then  in- 
terest upon  this  bonded  debt,  the  State  not  wishing  we  should  use  that 


324  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

much  and  no  more  for  that  purpose,  leaving  the  interest  of  the  entire  pro- 
ceeds of  the  land  scrip  fund  applicable  to  the  educationary  purposes  and 
running  the  experimental  farm.  1  do  not  see  how  a  school  could  be 
maintained  upon  the  ideas  embraced  in  that  act  of  Congress,  and  teach  the 
various  branches  required — could  be  maintained  with  a  less  number  of 
teachers  than  we  have  there.  It  is  true,  we  have  a  large  number  of  pro- 
fessors for  the  number  of  pupils  in  attendance,  but  the  number  of  courses 
that  are  required  to  be  taught  require  it.  1  never  heard  any  complaints  at 
all  that  the  salaries  paid  to  the  professors  were  exorbitant.  The  pro- 
fessors complain  very  strongly,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they  are  not  suffi- 
cient. There  has  never  been,  since  I  have  been  a  member  of  the  board,  a 
dollar  appropriated  to  pay  the  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  for  their 
services  or  even  their  traveling  expenses,  but  every  member,  as  far  as  I 
know,  spent  his  own  time,  gave  his  labor,  and  paid  his  own  expenses. 
There  have  been  efforts  made  since  I  have  been  a  member  of  the  board  to 
replace  this  outlay  by  appropriating  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  traveling 
expenses.  General  Beaver  and  myself  have  opposed  that  every  time.  We 
give,  by  far,  more  of  our  time  and  labor  than  any  other  members  of  the 
board,  being  members  of  the  executive  committee.  The  other  members  of 
the  trustees  usually  meet  but  twice  a  year,  while  we  had  to  go  to  the  col- 
lege once  or  twice  between  the  meetings  of  the  board,  and  pay  our  own 
expenses,  and  the  other  members  of  the  board  could  afford  to  do  the  same 
thing  with  much  less  time  and  far  less  expense.  I  believe  that  this  is  the 
only  institution  with  which  I  have  been  familiar  that  the  board  of  man- 
agement give  their  time  and  labor,  and  pay  their  own  expenses.  There 
has  been,  as  far  as  I  know  and  believe,  no  peculations  of  any  kind  to  the 
amount  of  a  farthing.  In  the  management  of  the  college  since  its  founda- 
tion, whatever  mistakes  have  been  made  in  the  past,  have  been  mistakes  of 
judgment.  The  men  who  were  at  the  head  of  the  institution  labored  as 
faithfully  for  the  success  of  the  institution  as  any  set  of  men  that  ever 
were  connected  with  any  public  institution  in  Pennsylvania. 

Q.  State  what,  if  any,  difficulty  you  have  had  in  selecting  a  president  or 
presidents  of  the  faculty ;  who  have  been  the  different  presidents  of  the 
faculty  within  your  recollection  ;  and  what  the  causes  were  of  resignation 
or  removal. 

A.  The  first  president  of  the  faculty  that  I  had  an 3^  acquaintance  with 
or  knowledge  of  was  General  Frazier,  who  was  president  in  1866.  I  forget 
how  long  he  occupied  that  position.  He  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and 
great  ability,  but  his  management  did  not  seem  to  be  a  success.  The  num- 
ber of  students  run  down  very  low.  I  believe,  when  he  resigned  his  posi- 
tion of  president,  there  was  not  over  twenty  college  students.  Why  he  re- 
signed I  do  not  know.  It  was  not  compulsory.  I  believe  he  came  to  the 
conclusion  himself  that  he  could  not  make  it  a  success.  Doctor  Burrows 
was  the  president  elected  to  succeed  him.  There  may  have  been  an  inter- 
regnum of  a  short  time,  but  I  do  not  know  that.  It  was  before  I  was  a 
trustee  that  Doctor  Burrows  was  president,  and  I  believe  his  administra- 
tion was  successful,  unless  it  was  financially.  He  had  then,  as  all  the  presi- 
dents had,  the  financial  management  of  the  institution  between  the  meet- 
ings of  the  board,  but  he  continued  president  until  his  death.  There  was 
an  interregnum,  and  the  institution  was  under  the  control  of  the  vice 
president.  Professor  McKee,  and  Doctor  Calder  was  elected, and  was  when 
I  became  a  member  of  the  board,  and  continued  so  down  until  the  spring 
of  1880.  In  many  respects  his  administration  was  very  satisfactory  ;  in 
some  respects  it  was  not.  He  resigned  or  tendered  his  resignation,  which 
was  accepted  by  the  board,  at  their  meeting  in  Harrisburg,  January,  1880, 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  325 

to  take  effect  whenever  his  successor  should  be  elected,  or  to  take  effect  at 
the  end  of  the  college  year,  and  sooner,  if  his  successor  was  elected.  A 
committee  of  the  board  was  appointed  to  select  his  successor  after  his  res- 
ignation was  accepted.  General  Beaver  and  myself  were  upon  that  com- 
mittee. I  am  not  sure  who  all  of  the  other  members  were,  but  I  think 
Major  Starkweather,  of  Williamsport ;  Victor  Piolette,  of  Bradford  county ; 
and,  possibly,  Mr.  Jordan,  of  Harrisburg,  were  the  other  members  appointed 
to  select  a  president.  General  Beaver  and  myself  were  the  two  trustees 
residing  in  this  county  and  near  the  college.  My  own  judgment  was  not 
to  be  in  haste  in  selecting  a  new  president.  The  members  of  the  faculty 
were  unanimously  the  other  wa^',  and  insisted  that  the  good  of  the  college 
required  that  a  new  president  should  be  elected  prior  to  the  end  of  the 
college  .year,  or  otherwise,  if  there  was  no  head  to  the  college  when  the 
students  separated,  many  of  them  would  get  scattered,  and  not  come 
back,  assuming  the  position  that  the  students  would  be  retained  if  they 
had  a  president.  We  had  two  or  three  applications.  One  gentleman 
agreed  to  accept  the  presidency,  with  the  understanding  that  the  insti- 
tution should  be  merged  with  another  one  with  which  he  was  connected  ; 
a  proposition  we  did  not  think  was  practical,  and,  therefore,  it  let  him 
out.  The  only  other  application  that  seemed  to  present  the  proper 
.  .  .  was  one  from  Professor  Shortlidge,  of  Maple  Institute, 
Delaware  county.  He  sent  very  strong  recommendation  from  Hon. 
Thomas  Y.  Cooper,  John  M.  Bromal  and  several  clergymen  of  that  county, 
and  some  teachers  and  scientists  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  The  re- 
commendations were  as  strong  as  any  one  would  ask  or  expect  and  made 
a  very  favorable  impression  upon  General  Beaver  and  myself.  As  all  the 
members  of  the  faculty  were  very  urgent  that  one  should  be  selected  to 
supply  Dr.  Calder's  place  before  the  June  commencement,  Professor  Short- 
lidge was  telegraphed  to  meet  General  Beaver  and  myself  in  Philadelphia. 
We  went  there  and  met  him,  I  think,  the  last  of  March  or  the  first  of  April 
at  the  Girard  House  and  had  an  interview  with  him  of  an  hour  or  two. 
The  good  impression  that  his  recommendations  had  made  upon  us  were 
confirmed  by  that  interview  and  we  thought  that  under  the  circumstances 
we  should  recommend  to  the  board  his  election  and  had  called  a  meet- 
ing soon  afterwards  of  the  board  to  be  held  here  in  Bellefonte.  We  re- 
ported in  favor  of  the  election  of  Professor  Shortlidge  and  he  was  accord- 
ingly elected  to  take  charge  of  the  college  the  first  of  June,  during  the 
spring  term.  He  came  on  some  time,  I  think,  before  the  commencement, 
just  visited  the  college,  but  did  not  take  charge  of  the  institution — came 
on  and  was  present  during  the  commencement  week,  and  took  some  slight 
part  in  the  exercises  of  that  week.  The  part  that  he  did  take  did  not 
make  a  favorable  impression  upon  anybody,  neither  upon  the  members  of 
the  board,  members  of  the  faculty,  students  or  the  public,  and  was  told  by 
everybody  that  spoke  to  me  that  thev  thought  we  had  made  a  mistake. 
As  General  Beaver  and  £  had  selected  him  we  were  slow  to  believe  that 
we  had,  and  did  maintain  for  some  time  that  we  had  not.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  fall  term  he  had  moved  to  the  college  and  the  term  opened  about  as 
usual,  about  the  same  number  of  students  pcs-ibly  a  few  more  than  had 
"been  at  the  session  before,  I  think  not  many,  if  an3^  more. 

Q.  Right  there,  Judge,  let  me  ask  you  a  question.  Mr.  Shortlidge  has 
testified,  before  this  committee,  that  when  he  came  there  and  assumed  the 
presidency  that  he  brought  with  him  one  fourth  of  the  students,  and  Miss 
Bell  Shortlidge  has  testified,  before  this  committee,  that  when  Joseph  came 
there  and  assumed  the  presidency  he  brought  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  all 


826  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

the  students  that  came  from  a  distance.     Are  you  familiar  with  the  number 
of  students  there  when  he  took  charge,  and  the  number  he  brought  there  ? 

A.  There  is  a  material  discrepancy  between  t^^entj^-five  and  ninety -nine 
per  cent.  I  cannot,  of  course,  give  the  exact  number  that  he  brought,  or 
what  the  number  was  that  was  there  ;  but  referring  to  the  catalogue  for 
that  year  will  give  the  number  that  were  there  altogether,  and  the  number 
from  Chester  county  and  Philadelphia,  and  according  to  what  were  there 
from  Chester  county  and  Philadelphia,  we  find  his  estimate  much  too  large, 
and  Miss  Bell's  entirely  too  large.  I  am  satisfied  that  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  fall  term  every  member  of  the  faculty  was  anxious  and  very 
desirous  for  the  success  of  Professor  Shortlidge  as  president  of  the  insti- 
tution, and  there  was  no  prejudice  against  him.  There  was  no  spirit  of  in- 
subordination among  the  members  of  the  faculty,  or  any  desire  to  cripple 
him  in  any  way.  I  knew  every  member  of  vhe  faculty,  and  had  known 
them  for  sometime,  that  is,  every  member  that  was  there  when  he  first  came. 
Professor  Downey  resigned,  soon  after,  to  accept  a  position  with  a  higher 
salary  in  a  western  college.  His  place  is,  I  believe,  filled  by  one  of  the 
teachers  from  his  school  in  Delaware  county.  I  was  not  then  acquainted 
with  Professor  Jackson,  but  have  become  acquainted  with  him  since.  The 
idea,  that  I  see  by  Professor  Shortlidge's  testimony  is,  that  he  desired  to 
impress  upon  the  committee  that  the  members  of  the  faculty,  from  the  begin- 
ning, had  tried  to  prevent  the  success  of  his  administration.  That  is  with- 
out foundation.  Furthermore,  there  is  no  member  of  the  faculty,  as  far  as  I 
know,  as  having  wanted  the  position  of  president.  Different  persons  did 
suggest  vice-president  McKee  for  president  of  the  institution,  and  he  per- 
emptorily declined,  and  said  he  was  not  qualified  for  it,  and  could  not  ac- 
cept it  under  any  circumstances.  Neither  Professor  Hamilton  or  Professor 
Smith  were,  or  had  anybody  suggested  them  to  me  for  the  presidency,  nor 
were  they  candidates  or  wanted  the  position.  Those  are  results  of  over- 
heated imagination.  As  I  was  going  on  to  state,  the  fall  term  opened  about 
in  the  usual  way.  A  few  weeks  afterwards  I  had  been  out  in  the  mount- 
ains, and  when  I  came  home  I  found  a  delegation  of  students  had  been 
down  to  see  me  about  some  trouble  at  the  college.  Either  the  same  even- 
ing or  next  morning  I  met  some  of  them,  and  they  were  terribly  excited, 
and  said  the  man  up  there  was  a  err zy  man,  and  that  he  would  break  up 
the  college.  They  telegraphed  to  General  Beaver,  who  was  either  at 
Warren,  at  the  insane  hospital,  or  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  in  camp. 
I  know  he  was  not  here.  The  students  became  terribly  excited  over  some 
threat  the  president  made  from  the  platform  in  the  chapel,  what  he  was 
going  to  do  with  them.  I  tried  to  quiet  the  boys,  told  them  not  get  ex- 
cited, and  that  everything  would  come  right.  There  was  no  meeting  of 
the  board,  and  nobody  had  any  power  to  do  anything  to  him.  When 
General  Beaver  came  home  we  went  up,  and  did  everj'thing  that  we  could 
to  quiet  the  disturbance.  I  am  satisfied  that  all  the  members  of  the  facult}'' 
there  did  the  same  thing,  and  that  their  judgment  did  not  approve  of  the 
course  President  Shortlidge  was  taking.  He  had  not  one  single  qualification 
to  fit  him  for  a  college  president.  His  composition  is  made  up  of  bigotry, 
narrow-mindedness,  superstition,  and  ignorance^  and  not  a  good  combina- 
tion to  make  a  college  president  of,  and  his  language  and  conduct  was 
more  like  a  bully  in  the  prize  ring  than  a  gentleman. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  What  gave  occasion  to  this  outbreak  among  the  boys  ? 

A.  I  only  know  from  what  I  have  heard ;  but  it  was  some  threat  that  if 
they  did  not  obey  him  he  would  use  his  muscle. 


Leg.  Doc"!  Pennsylvania  Istate  College.  83Y 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Was  it  not  that  if  he  could  not  govern  them  by  moral  suasion  he 
would  by  muscle  ? 

A.  I  was  not  present,  and  could  not  tell.  It  has  been  nearly  two  years 
since  it  occurred.  I  would  not  pretend  to  give  the  exact  words.  1  was 
a  friend  to  Professor  Shortlidge,  and  had  been  the  means,  with  General 
Beaver,  of  electing  him.  I  did  everything  I  could  to  smooth  over  his 
course,  and  tried  to  reconcile  the  students  and  the  faculty.  I  am  satisfied 
that  the  faculty  would  have  assisted  him  in  his  trouble,  except  that,  in 
their  judgment,  his  course  was  ruinous  to  the  college,  and  they  dissented 
from  it  for  that  reason  and  no  other.  At  the  meeting  of  the  board,  in 
June,  1880,  after  his  election,  the  first  meeting  during  commencement 
week,  a  resolution  was  adopted  placing  almost  absolute  power  in  his  hands. 
To  me  that  was  an  apparent  supposition  upon  his  part  that  there  was  to  be 
opposition  to  his  authority.  The  members  of  the  board  wanted  to  satisfy 
that  they  were  putting  all  confidence  and  trust  in  him. 

Q.  In  consideration  of  the  fact  that  he  had  brought  ninety* -nine  per  cent 
of  the  students  with  him  ? 

A.  He  liad  not  bi'ought  any  with  him  then.  That  was  not  until  the  fall 
term  began.  The  resolution  would  have  been  perfectl}'  harmless  in  the 
hands  of  a  prudent,  practical  man,  but  it  was  exceedingly  dangerous  in 
the  hands  of  such  a  man.  I  attended  all  the  meetings  of  the  executive 
committee,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  being  president  of  the  faculty  from 
that  time  until  late  in  the  fall,  either  November  or  December.  He  was 
secretary  of  that  committee.  He  kept  the  minutes,  and  I  would  ask  this 
committee  to  examine  that  minute  book  when  they  get  to  the  college  and 
see  the  manner  in  which  he  kept  the  minutes,  and  they  can  possibl}^  form 
a  better  idea  of  his  qualifications  as  a  literary  man  than  anything  I  could 
tell  them. 

Q.  How  long  did  his  terra  extend  ? 

A.  Namely,  from  the  1st  of  June,  18S0,  until  about  the  1st  of  April, 
1881,  but  a  long  vacation  came  in  in  the  meantime,  so  he  began  his  actual 
career  as  president  the  1st  of  September,  l^HO,  and  continued  until  last  of 
March  or  the  1st  of  April,  1881.  I  was  in  the  meetings  of  the  executive 
committee  before  that  fall  term  ended,  and  I  was  thoroughly  satisfied  and 
convinced  that  we  had  made  an  egregious  blunder  in  the  selection  of  that 
president,  and  it  was  a  kind  of  a  blunder  that  I  did  not  care  to  take  the 
responsibility  of,  nor  did  not  care  to  cure,  and,  in  consequence  of  that,  I 
sent  in  my  resignation  to  General  Beaver.  I  had  seen  him,  and  said  I 
would  not  act  as  a  trustee  until  that  difficulty  was  got  rid  of.  The  general 
requested  me  to  give  him  authority  to  withhold  that  letter  from  the  meet- 
ing of  the  board  in  January,  for  reasons  that  he  suggested  ;  consequently, 
my  resignation  was  not  presented  at  that  meeting.  At  that  meeting  the 
board  appointed  a  special  meeting  to  inquire  into  the  affairs  of  the  college, 
and  a  resolution,  containing  some  six  or  seven  points,  was  passed,  instruct- 
ing them  what  to  do.  That  resolution,  if  I  remember  rightly,  was  offered 
by  Mr.  Gordon,  a  member  of  the  board,  one  of  the  alumni  members. 
President  Shortlidge  w.^s  secretary  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  as  well 
as  secretary  of  the  executive  commit*:ee.  He  furnished  that  committee 
with  a  copy  of  that  resolution,  in  which  one  of  the  items  of  instruction 
was  omitted,  and  a  diff'erent  one  sutstituted  in  its  place.  The  committee, 
when  they  met  at  college,  Mr.  Gordon,  who  had  offered  the  original  reso- 
lution, proceeded  to  show  the  interpolation.  I  was  not  present  at  the 
meeting  of  that  committee,  and,  therefore,  cannot  say  what  occurred  there, 
except  from  report.     It  resulted,  however,  in  their  accepting  the  resigna- 


328  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

tion  of  Professor  Shortlidge,  to  take  effect  forthwith.     That  committee 
consisted  of  General  Jacob  M.  Campbell,  of  Johnstown  ;  Victor  Piolette, 
Cyrus  Gordon,  I  think  Mayor  Starkweather,  and  I  think  General  Beaver. 
By  General  Beaver : 

No  ;  I  was  not  on  it. 
By  Judge  Orvis  : 

Who  was  the  fifth  member  ? — Colonel  Jordan  ? 
By  General  Beaver : 

I  am  inclined  to  think  it  was. 
By  Judge  Orvis : 

Biit  I  know  those  four  members,  and  they  «vere  satisfied  that  that  was 
the  only  remedy,  and  they  accepted  his  resignation,  to  take  effect  at  once 
but  his  salary  was  continued  for  three  months  afterwards.  That  is  the 
only  instance  that  I  know  of  where  any  portion  of  the  funds  of  the  college 
was  expended,  and  it  has  received  no  recompense.  They  paid  Mr.  Short- 
lidge  three  months'  salary  where  no  services  were  rendered,  but  we  would 
rather  pay  the  salary  than  keep  him  for  three  months. 

Q.  Then,  in  your  opinion,  one  of  the  mistakes  was  the  selection  of 
Joseph  Shortlidge  for  president  ? 

A.  That  is  not  an  opinion,  but  an  absolute  certainty.  I  admit  my  re- 
sponsibility as  one  of  the  persons  who  made  that  mistake,  but  we  are  not 
in  the  habit  of  keeping  incompetent  men  there.  He  was  there  less  than 
a  year. 

By  Mr,  Alexander  : 

Q.  You  are  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  and  quarter  sessions? 

A.  Additional  law  judge  of  the  Twenty-fifth  judicial  district. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  a  case  that  was  tried  before  you  in  which  the  Com- 
monwealth was  plaintiff  and  Gotlieb  Haag  was  defendant  ? 

A.  Yery  well. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  who  was  prosecutor  in  that  case  ? 

A.  Joseph  Shortlidge. 

Q.  Mr.  Shortlidge,  in  speaking  of  that  case,  says  :  

Judge  Orvis,  as  you  were  the  judge  upon  the  bench,  I  ask  you  to  state 
whether  or  not  General  Beaver  did  not  try  that  case  as  well  as  it  was  pos- 
sible for  an  attorney  to  try  the  case,  and  whether  it  was  not  lost  from  the 
want  of  facts,  as  proved  before  the  jury. 

A.  It  was  tried  by  the  district  attorney  and  General  Beaver  for  the 
Commonwealth  and  Messrs.  Alexander  and  Bower  on  the  part  of  the 
defense.  Both  sides  tried  all  there  was  in  the  case.  General  Beaver  was 
particularly  zealous,  I  won't  say  unusually  so,  for  he  is  zealous  in  all  his 
cases,  but  he  was  particularly  so  in  that  case,  because  it  was  an  alleged  sale 
of  whisky  to  the  college  students  and  he  was  a  trustee  of  the  college  and 
had  the  morals  of  the  students  very  much  at  heart.  There  was  considera- 
ble conflicting  of  testimony.  It  depended  very  much  on  the  view  the  jury 
took  of  the  testimony  whether  the  defendant  was  guilty  or  not.  If 
they  took  the  defendant's  stand-point,  there  was  a  strong  view  in  favor 
of  the  Commonwealth.  He  might  have  sold  unlawfully.  One  of  the  stu- 
dents had  who  was  of  age,  and  he  did  not  think  Haag  saw 
him  get  it.  It  was  not  a  very  clear  case,  but  there  might  possibly  have 
been  conviction  upon  that  evidence  but  for  the  very  strong  prejudice  ex- 
isting against  the  prosecutor  in  the  county.  I  think  that  had  more  to  do 
with  the  verdict  than  anj'^  one  thing.  I  submitted  the  case  to  the  jury  as 
strongly  as  the  evidence  waranted  on  the  part  of  the  Commonwealth,  as  I 
wanted  to  see  the  '  .  .  President  Shortlidge  expressed  him- 
self very  well  pleased  with  my  charge  afterwards.     The  defendant  was  not 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  329 

convicted,  and  Joseph  Shortlida:e,the  prosecutor, had  to  pay  the  cost.  As 
to  the  discipline  at  the  college  and  the  conduct  of  the  students  during  and 
at  the  middle  of  the  fall  term  in  1880,  the  discipline  was  not  good,  and  the 
conduct  of  the  students  was  much  worse  than  it  ever  was  before  and  ever 
has  been  since.  Professor  Shortlidge  seemed  to  have  no  capacity  to  man- 
age the  students  and  drove  them  into  open  rebellion  and  mischief,  and  the 
hoys  did  all  they  could  do  to  make  a  noise  and  disturbance  and  dilticulty. 
Prior  to  that  time  the  conduct  of  the  students  as  well  as  the  discipline  was 
as  good  as  that  of  any  equal  number  of  students  as  in  any  college  in  the 
country.  Since  he  left  there  I  believe  it  has  been  as  good  as  it  has  been 
at  any  ordinary  college  in  the  country.  Acts  of  mischief  have  been  com- 
mitted by  some  of  the  students;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  conduct  of  the  students 
is  exceptional!}^  good,  and  has  been  for  the  last  fourteen  years,  except  during 
the  brief  residence  of  Joseph  Shortlidge,  and  even  then  it  was  not  as  bad  as 
reported  to  be ;  but  had  not  the  respect  of  the  students,  he  did  not  have 
their  confidence,  and  he  could  not  control  them.  As  to  the  temperance  or 
intemperance  of  the  students,  there  is  noplace  where  liquor  is  sold,  per- 
mitted by  law,  within  two  miles  of  the  college,  and  in  fact  there  has  not 
been  any  license  granted  within  eight  miles  of  the  college  since  I  have  known 
anything  of  this  county.  There  has  been,  possibly  on  an  average  once  a 
year,  that  a  student  will  go  away  from  the  college  and  get  under  the  influ- 
ence of  liquor.  I  do  not  know  of  single  student  or  students  that  are  hab- 
itually intemperate  at  the  college,  and  it  is  not  true.  All  of  the  testimony 
on  that  subject  by  Miss  Bell  Shortlidge  is  entirely  over-stated,  and  a  great 
part  of  it  is  undoubtedly  mere  imagination.  There  has  been  perfect  quiet 
and  order  and  harmony  at  the  college  since  April,  \SHl.  The  only  disquiet 
has  been  the  anxiet}'  of  the  faculty  that  the  board  should  elect  a  new  pres- 
ident. As  we  made  a  great  mistake  in  the  selection  of  Professor  Short- 
lidge, we  have  not  selected  one,  although  over  a  year  has  elapsed,  and  we 
do  not  propose  to  until  we  are  satisfied  we  have  the  right  kind  of  a  man. 

None  of  the  members  of  the  faculty  are  candidates  for  the  oflSce,  and  I 
do  not  believe  any  one  of  them  would  take  the  position  if  oflfered  to  them. 
Professor  Hamilton  has  not  been  a  member  of  the  faculty  for  two  years  or 
more — I  think  it  is  two  years  this  June — in  consequence  of  ill  health.  He 
was  professor  of  agriculture.  He  is  now  business  manager,  and  as  such, 
has  charge  of  the  business  of  the  institution,  but  he  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  control  of  the  students.  Professor  Smith  has  resigned  the  professor- 
ship of  chemistry,  to  take  place  this  spring,  in  consequence  of  an  offer  of  a 
salary  double  what  we  were  paying  him  at  the  college.  All  of  the  members 
of  the  faculty  that  have  been  there  any  length  of  time,  I  believe  to  be 
thoroughly  competent  for  the  positions  which  they  respectively  fill.  There 
are  two  or  three  new  members  of  the  faculty  that  have  been  there  so  short 
a  time  that  I  have  had  no  means  of  judging  of  their  ability.  The  course 
of  studies  there,  as  you  see  by  the  catalogue,  is  full  and  thorough,  and  I 
believe  that  the  education  that  the  student  who  graduates  there  gets  is 
superior  to  that  of  any  of  the  ordinary  colleges  throughout  the  country.  I 
noticed  in  the  testimony  of  Miss  Bell  Shortlidge  that  the  facilities  offered 
are  deficient.  I  cannot  pretend  to  itemize  what  they  are  in  the  labora- 
tories, cabinets,  and  museums,  but  T  would  ask  this  committeee,  when  they 
go  there,  to  make  a  personal  examination  and  see  if  they  are  not  equipped 
as  well  as  in  some  of  these  large  colleges,  and  I  am  satisfied  none  of  them 
are  better  equipped  or  have  a  more  competent  corps  of  teachers. 

Q.  Could  it  be  possible  to  decrease  the  number  of  professors  in  that 
institution  and  comply  with  the  requirement  of  the  act  of  Congress  ? 


830  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  I  think  not;  but  on  the  other  hand  I  think  there  ought  to  be  several 
additional  professorships  that  we  have  not  the  means  to  establish. 

Q.  How  do  you  account,  Judge  Orvis,  for  the  small  number  of  students 
that  are  in  attendance  at  this  institution  ? 

A.  For  various  causes.  The  college  is  away  from  any  large  town.  It 
is  secluded.  Sometimes  parents  object  to  sending  their  children  because 
it  is  not  in  immediate  communication  with  telegraph  and  railway  with  their 
homes.  Many  of  the  students  object  to  the  labor  required  of  them  there 
in  the  practicuras. 

By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Isn't  that  optional  now? 

A.  No,  sir ;  not  with  the  ordinary  student.  They  require  him  to  do  so 
much  work,  but  it  is  systematized,  so  that  it  is  in  the  line  of  their  studies. 
The  misfortune  we  have  had  in  the  presidents  of  the  faculty  has  been  an- 
other cause.  In  my  judgment,  students  have  been  expelled  for  causes 
that  I  do  not  think  were  adequate  to  expel  a  student  from  the  college.  I 
remember  on  one  occasion  after  the  faculty  had  expelled  a  student  that. 
General  Beaver  stated  to  the  meeting  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  sufficient 
cause,  for  a  member  of  his  class  at  Washington  and  Jefferson  College 
would  not  have  been  expelled.  Then,  in  some  parts  of  the  State  there  has 
been  a  persistent  opposition  to  the  college  for  other  reasons,  and  that  is 
particularly  true  of  Chester  county.  The  college  has  not  given  as  much 
money  to  the  Eastern  farm  as  those  Chester  county  people  thought  they 
ought  to  have  to  expend  there,  and  they  have  been  fighting  the  institution 
for  the  last  seven  or  eight  years  for  no  other  reason  than  that,  that  I  am 
aware  of.  When  that  farm  was  bought,  my  .information  is  that  it  was  in  a 
good  state  of  cultivation.  The  buildings  and  fences  all  in  a  good  state  of 
repair.  It  was  well  stocked  and  furnished  with  all  the  necessary  imple- 
ments. The  entire  proceeds  of  the  farm  have  been  given  to  it  since,  and  for 
some  time,  $2,000  a  year  out  of  the  college  fund,  and  when  that  was  re- 
duced to  $1,000  a  year,  down  to  the  last  two  years,  the  board  of  trustees 
said  that  a  farm  in  as  good  state  of  cultivation  as  that  one  was  could  not 
be  run  on  one  or  two  thousand  dollars  a  year,  over  and  above  all  that  it 
made ;  that  farm  could  not  be  made  profitable  in  that  section  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  we  refused  to  give  any  more.  It  has,  on  an  average,  received 
double  the  amount  that  the  Central  farm  has  had,  and  it  has  been  kept  in 
a  good  state  of  cultivation.  The  Western  experimental  farm  has  not  been 
run  to  any  very  great  extent  for  an  experimental  station,  for  the  reason 
that  most  of  the  land  requires  under-draining  before  winter  crops  can  be 
raised  upon  it,  and  the  board  never  had  the  funds  to  make  that  improve- 
ment on  the  land.  Since  I  have  been  a  member  of  the  board,  it  has  been 
run  as  an  ordinary  farm,  and  we  have  been  making  such  improvement  as 
the  income  of  it  would  allow. 

Q.  Has  there  been  anything  like  an  adequate  return  from  the  Eastern 
and  Western  farms  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  no  return  at  all,  but  a  constant  drain  upon  the  college. 
They  refused  to  inaugurate  the  system  of  experiments  under  the  direction 
of  the  business  manager  and  professor  of  agriculture.  We  have  resorted 
to  all  the  expediencies  that  we  know  of  to  satisfy  those  people  of  Chester 
county.  We  placed  the  control  of  the  farm  under  the  local  committee 
who  had  it  in  charge  and  directed  its  management,  but  it  has  been  per- 
mitted to  run  down.  The  men  who  thus  controlled  it  permitted  it  to  go 
down,  notwithstanding  there  has  been  a  deliberate  and  constant  demand 
for  more  and  more  money,  and  it  has  had,  I  am  satisfied,  very  nearly,  if 
not  full}',  double  the  amount  of  the  appropriation  from  the  college  treasury 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  331 

that  the  farm  here  has  had,  although  they  are  situated  far  more  favorable, 
as  to  markets,  than  the  Central  farm. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m.,  June  26,  1882. 


Met  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m.,  June  26,  1882. 

Bush  House,  Bellefonte,  Pennsylvania, 

Tuesday,  9,  a.  m.,  June  27,  1882. 

Sub-committee  met  as  above. 

Present :  Messrs.  Newmyer,  Chairman  Roberts,  Mr.  Bierly,  Alexander, 
and  Hall  was  also  present. 

Minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  last  night's  session  were  read,  and  on 
motion,  approved. 

Hon.  Judge  Orvis  was  recalled,  and  gave  further  testimony  at  some 
lensfth.  General  James  A.  Beaver  was  called,  sworn,  and  gave  testimony 
fully. 

At  noon-day  a  recess  was  taken  for  dinner. 

Sut-commiitee  reconvened  at  2  o'clock,  p.  M.,  when  General  Beaver  was 
recalled,  and  further  testified  at  some  length. 

Mr.  Cyrus  Gordon,  trustee  elected  by  the  alumni,  was  sworn.  Gradu- 
ated in  1866  at  the  college,  and  was  elected  trustee  in  1876,  and  testified. 

Mr.  J.  C,  Harper,  clerk  of  the  quarter  sessions  of  the  county,  was  sworn, 
and  testified  as  to  certain  matters  in  connection  with  the  suit  versus  G. 
Haag,  for  selling  beer  to  the  students. 

Mr.  D.  F.  Fortney,  district  attorney  of  the  county,  testified  in  the  case 
against  G.  Haag.     (See  stenographer's  transcript.) 

Moved,  4.30,  P.  M.,  to  adjourn  to.  meet  at  the  college  at  the  call  of  the 
chairman,  to-morrow,  Wednesda}'  morning,  June  28,  1882.  Adopted,  and 
on  motion,  adjourned. 

G.  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 

Hon.  John  H.  Orvis,  recalled,  examination  continued: 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  are  familiar  with  the  early  history  and  the  original  organization 
of  this  institution,  were  you  ? 

A.  Xot  particularly  with  its  organization,  except  as  I  have  learned  it 
since  I  have  been  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees.  I  was  not  a  citizen 
of  this  county  when  the  college  building  was  erected,  or  when  the  college 
was  opened;  I  believe  it  was  opened  in  1859.  I  came  to  this  county  in 
1862,  three  years  after,  and  for  four  or  five  \'ears  after  that  I  was  not  par- 
ticularly familiar  with  its  management. 

Q.  Your  subsequent  connections  with  the  college  made  you  familiar 
with  the  several  acts  of  the  Legislature  in  relation  to  the  State  College 
and  the  act  of  Congress  making  the  land  grant  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  believe  I  have  attempted  to  study  them  all.  I  had  occa- 
sion to  do  that  in,  I  think  it  was,  1880.  1  was  appointed  a  member  of  a 
committee  to  prepare  an  address  in  reply  to  the  report  of  the  investigating 
committee  that  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature,  and,  in  preparing  that 
address,  I  examined  fully  and  carefully  all  of  the  legislation,  general  and 
special,  appertaining  to  the  college. 

Q.  In  that  address  have  you  cited  all  of  the  acts  of  Assembly  in  relation 
to  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  ? 


332  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  I  believe  we  did,  and  1  thought  they  were  all  printed  as  an  appendix 
to  the  address,  until  recently  my  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  one 
was  omitted  in  tlie  appendix  to  the  address.  It  was  signed  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  with  the  appendix  was  sent  to  the  State  printer  to  he  printed. 
The  copies  of  the  decrees  of  the  court  of  this  county  appertaining  to  the 
college  were  also  appended,  and  the  copy  of  the  minutes  of  the  board  of 
commissioners  having  charge  of  the  laud  scrip  fund  were  furnished,  and 
citations  of  the  different  acts  of  Assembly.  The  proof  of  the  body  of  the 
address  itself  was  sent  to  me  to  read,  and  the  appendix  itself  was  sent  to 
Colonel  Jordan  to  read  the  proof;  and  I  noticed,  yesterday,  for  the  first 
time,  that  one  of  the  acts  of  Assembly  is  omitted  in  the  appendix.  It  is 
the  act  of  April  3,  1872,  providing  for  the  sale  of  all  the  securities  in 
which  this  fund  had  been  vested,  covering  the  amount  in  the  treasury,  and 
the  issuing  of  a  bond  fjr  $500,0  >0  in  lieu  of  it.  I  do  not  thinli  that  is 
here.     It  should  come  in  immediately^  after  the  decree  of  the  court. 

Q.  I  will  call  your  attention  to  the  act  approved  the  3d  day  of  April, 
1872 ;  state  whether  that  is  the  act  to  which  you  refer. 

A.  That  is  the  act  that  is  omitted  in  the  appendix  to  that  address.  It 
is  contained  in  pamphlet  laws  of  1872,  on  page  thirty-nine. 

Q.  To  whom  does  that  act  require  that  bond  shall  be  payable  to  ? 

A.  It  provides  for  a  bond  of  $50<>.<)00. 

"  Section  1.  Be  it  enacted^  &c.^  That  the  Surveyor  General  be,  and  is, 
hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  sell  all  the  present  bonds  held  by  him  in 
trust  for  the  agricultural  college  land-scrip  fund,  and  pay  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  the  same  to  the  State  Treasurer  for  the  use  of  the  Sinking 
Fund  Commission. 

"  Section  2.  That  the  Governor,  Auditor  General,  and  State  Treasurer 
are  authorized  to  issue  a  registered  bond  of  this  Commonwealth  for  the 
sum  of  $500,000,  payable  to  the  agricultural  college  land-scrip  fund  of 
Pennsylvania  after  fifty  years  from  the  1st  day  of  February,  1872,  with 
interest  on  the  same  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  to  be  paid  semi- 
annually on  the  Ist  of  February  and  August  of  each  year,  and  deliver  the 
said  bond  to  the  State  Treasurer  for  the  uses  and  purposes  declared  by 
law." 

The  third  section  provides  ''  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  State  Treas- 
urer to  hold  said  bond  in  trust  for  the  agrisnltural  college  land-scrip  fund 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  pay  the  interest  accruing  thereon  semi-annually  to 
the  agricultural  college  of  Pennsylvania,  according  to  the  several  acts  of 
Assembly  in  relation  thereto." 
^y  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  So  he  is  the  legal  custodian  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes ;  made  so  by  the  act. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  Judge  Orvis,  as  he  is  one  of  the  trustees,  in  re- 
gard to  the  conduct  of  that  institution.  Professor  Shortlidge  and  his 
cousin  took  considerable  pains  to  impress  upon  everybody  the  immoralities 
of  the  institution.  I  would  like  to  ask  what  immoralities  there  were  out 
there  ?  ^ 

A.  1  glanced  over  the  testimony  yesterday  once.  Was  first  time  I  saw 
it.  I  only  got  what  she  said  by  reading  Reber's  notes.  I  believe  her  alle- 
gations consist  in  charging  that  the  students  were,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
addicted  to  the  use  of  rum  and  tobacco.  I  have  no  means  of  telling  what 
proportion  of  the  students  use  tobacco — either  chew  or  smoke.  A  rule  of 
the  college  forbids  smoking  in  the  college.  I  believe  some  of  them  violate 
the  rule  in  their  rooms.    I  never  knew  of  a  large  school  where  the  students 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  333 

did  not  use  tobacco.  I  have  heard  since  being  a  trustee  of  either  three  or 
four  instances  of  students,  when  away  from  the  college,  becoming  intoxi- 
cated. 1  believe  there  is  less  at  this  college  than  there  is  in  any  similar 
institution  in  Pennsylvania. 

Q.  Miss  Shortlidge  has  alleged  tKat  on  one  occasion  a  student  came  into 
class  very  much  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  I  have  heard  that  contra- 
dicted, but  not  on  the  witness-stand.     I  would  like  to  know  about  it. 

A.  I  know  of  my  own  knowledge  nothing  about  it.  Of  course,  I  was 
not  present.  I  could  not  specifically  contradict  her  in  that  respect.  I  do 
not  believe  the  statement.  The  boy  referred  to,  I  have  been  informed  was 
subject  to  epileptic  fits,  and  he  had  one  in  her  class-room  on  one  occasion, 
and  had  not  delirium  tremens  either  from  whisky  or  tobacco. 

Q.  Was  the  matter  ever  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  trustees  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  no  complaint  made.  I  never  heard  of  the  student  until  after 
her  testimony.  The  only  instance  that  was  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  any  student  getting  intoxicating  liquor,  was  while 
President  Shortlidge  was  there,  and  that  having  resulted  in  the  prosecution 
of  Mr.  Haag  for  selling  to  the  students.  I  did  hear  that  one  or  more  of 
the  students  were  intoxicated  at  that  picnic. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  At  the  Granger  picnic  ? 

A.  I  believe  so.  I  do  not  know.  Some  public  gathering.  It  was  some 
eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  college. 

Q.  You  never  heard  of  any  immoralities  other  than  that? 

A.  No,  sir;  before  I  became  a  member  of  the  board,  a  member  of  my 
family  had  been  attending  the  college,  and  I  sent  my  daughter  there  for 
one  year.  There  had  never  been  any  scandal,  or  any  allegation  of  any  im- 
moralities arising  from  the  presence  of  both  sexes  there.  Miss  Bell  Short- 
lidge alleged  nothing  of  that  kind,  yet,  if  the  morals  of  the  students  were 
what  she  represents  them  to  be,  it  would  be  hard  to  avoid  some  scandal  of 
some  kind.  The  entire  impression  of  her  testimony,  coming  to  any  per- 
son not  acquainted  with  the  facts,  is  unfair  and  untrue.  She  had  evidently 
a  very  distempered  imagination. 

Q.  Did  she  reside  in  the  college  ? 

A.  She  lived  with  her  cousin,  the  president,  in  his  household  until  the 
time  he  resigned,  and  when  he  moved  away  she  went  with  him. 
By  Mr  Alexander  : 

Q.  Did  she  ever  make  application  to  become,  at  any  time,  a  member  of 
the  fpcult3'  ? 

A.  Not  to  the  board  of  trustees.  She  was  not  a  member  of  the  faculty, 
p/oper,  at  any  time.  She  had  a  class  in  elocution,  I  believe,  and  probably 
one  or  two  in  the  preparatory  department. 

Q.  Elocution  was  her  forte  ? 

A.  I  believe  she  is  said  to  be  a  good  elecutionist.      I  had  very  little 
acquaintance  with  her  at  the  college.     I  remember  taking  dinner  at  Presi- 
dent Shortlidge 's  when  she  presided  at  the  table,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
meeting  of  the  executive  committee. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  Professor  Shortlidge,  during  his  examination,  stated  before  us  that 
the  position  of  president  was  tendered  to  him  without  any  solicitation,  but 
subsequently  I  ascertained  that  he  had  made  application  for  the  position. 
,  1  would  like  to  know  a  little  more  about  it. 

A.  Dr.  Calder's  resignation  was  accepted  by  the  board  at  a  regular  meet- 
ing in  January,  18»0,  at  Harrisburg,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  select 
his  successor.     I  was  a  member  of  that  committee.     We  received  several 


334  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

applications,  among  others  one  from  Professor  Joseph  Shortlidge,  of  Con- 
cordville,  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  sent  testimonials  that  were 
very  strong.  We  examined  those  testimonials,  and  thought,  from  the  gen- 
tlemen they  came  from,  that  he  would^  be  a  suitable  person  for  the  posi- 
tion. An  appointment,  by  telegram,  to  meet  General  Beaver  and 
myself  in  Philadelphia,  was  made.  We  went  there  and  met  him,  and 
had  an  interview  of  an  hour  or  two  at  the  Girard  House,  and  we  both  came 
to  the  conclusion  he  would  be  a  suitable  man  for  the  place  from  what  we 
saw  of  him  there.  A  special  meeting  of  the  board  was  called  to  meet  here 
in  Bellefonte,  and  he  was  elected  upon  our  recommendation. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  What  are  the  sources  of  revenue  of  the  college  ? 

A.  It  has  no  revenue  except  the  interest  upon  this  endowment  fund  of 
$30,00u  a  year,  and  the  charge  of  room  rent,  rent  of  furniture,  and  inci- 
dentals, amounting  to  forty  dollars  a  year  for  each  student,  which  is  all 
absorbed  in  keeping  up  the  building,  and  the  income  of  the  college  farm. 

Q.  What  appropriations,  if  any,  have  been  made  by  the  State  in  addi- 
tion to  the  $3O,00u  from  the  beginning  ? 

A.  I  can  give  it  from  this  address,  for  we  gave  them  all  there — I  mean 
just  the  lump  sum.  On  page  22  there  is  an  act  approved  May  2t>, 
1857.  There  was  $50,000  appropriated  toward  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ing, and  an  act  of  April  18,  1861,  of  $49,400.  I  believe  the  act  provided 
for  $50,000,  but  that  was  the  amount  devised.  That  was  for  erection  fund. 
Those  were  the  only  appropriations  from  the  State  treasurer,  made  by  the 
Legislature,  until  long  after  the  institution  was  established,  ihe  only  other 
appropriation  that  has  been  made,  paid  by  the  State,  is  the  one  of  1878  of 
$80,000  to  pay  the  mortgage  debt  of  the  college.  There  was  then,  by  this 
act  of  April  3,  1872,  added  to  the  endowment  fund  of  $89,759  5U,  the 
principal  of  which,  of  course,  has  never  been  paid.  The  $89,7o9  50  made 
the  entire  endowment  half  a  million.  No,  there  was  an  appropriation, 
a  local  appropriation  made,  I  think,  of  $5,000  to  the  Eastern  experimental 
farm  for  building  an  office  and  making  certain  repairs  there. 

Q.  This  bond  of  $500,<K)0,  which  the  State  has  accepted  in  favor  of  the 
land  scrip  fund,  did  they  ever  receive  the  full  face  value  of  that  bond  from 
the  sale  of  the  scrip  ? 

A.  They  received  from  the  sale  of  the  scrip  $439,186  80,  all  except 
donation  of  1878,  and  they  added  that  to  the  land  scrip  fund. 

Q.  That  is,  the  State  is  to  pay  the  interest,  but  have  never  paid  out  the 
principal  ? 

A.  That  was  done  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  surveyor  general, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  land  scrip  commission.  In  consequence  of  the 
Legislature  to  make  the  necessary  provisions  when  it  should  have  beeu 
sold,  the  legislation  was  very  defective.  They  were  unable  to  sell  the  land 
scrip  in  consequence  of  a  want  of  proper  legislation.  The  other  States 
had  supplied  the  market  and  prices  run  down,  and  they  realized  far  less 
than  other  States  did.  For  the  purpose  of  giving  the  full  of  that  land 
scrip  commission  the  committee  had  transcribed  and  appended  the  full 
minutes  of  that  commission. 

Q.  The  statements  contained  in  that  address  are  correct  ? 

A.  I  believe  they  are,  in  all  respects,  correct,  full  and  complete,  barring 
any  typographical  errors.     The  college  was  not,  in  an}^  way,  responsible 
for  the  administrations  of  that  land  scrip.     It  was  under  the  control  of  , 
the  board  appointed  by  the  Legislature,  of  which  the  college  had  no  con- 
trol and  had  no  representative  on  the  board. 

Q.  There  has  been  great  complaints  made  that  the  people  had  not  re- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  335 

ceived  no  corresponding  benefit  from  the  land  scrip  fund  in  the  State  Col- 
lege. Can  you  suggest  any  reason  why  this  is,  or  anything  that  could  be 
done  to  enable  them  to  realize  greater  benefits  from  it  ?  It  seems  to  me 
that  that  is  really  the  objective  point  of  this  inquiry. 

A.  I  believe  the  complaints-r-and  no  two  of  them  agree  as  to  what  bene- 
fits they  ought  to  receive  from  it — their  complaints  may  or  may  not  be 
well  founded.  It  depends  entirely  as  to  what  one's  idea  is  as  to  what  this 
fund  could  have  been  made  to  produce.  That  our  State  College  has  not 
been  as  successful  as  colleges  established  in  some  of  the  other  States  under 
this  act  of  Congress  is  undoubtedly  true.  One  of  the  main  reasons,  in 
my  judgment,  is  that  the  State  itself  has,  from  the  time  that  it  passed  the 
act  accepting  this  land  grant  and  pledged  the  faith  of  the  State  to  carry 
it  out,  has  utterly  failed  to  keep  that  faith.  That  act,  the  first  act  accept- 
ing the  land  grant,  was  approved  the  1st  day  of  April,  1863,  by  which  the 
faith  of  the  State  was  pledged  to  provide  a  college  or  school  of  the  kind 
described  by  the  act  of  Congress,  had  necessarily  to  provide  all  the  build- 
ings and  everything  else,  because  the  fund — the  proceeds  of  this  fund — 
could  not  be  used  for  that  purpose.  The  State,  for  three  years,  made  no 
adequate  provision  even  for  the  selling  of  this  land  scrip.  She  left  only 
$80,000  to  the  school.  At  no  time  from  the  foundation  of  this  institution, 
from  the  original  organization,  it  has  not  had  adequate  means  to  establish 
or  carry  on  a  school  of  that  kind.  There  is  a  great  deficiency  now  in  the 
establishment  for  want  of  adequate  funds.  There  ought  to  be  mechanical 
shops  fully  equipped,  but  the  college  has  no  means  of  building  or  equip- 
ping those  shops.  There  is  no  green-house  there  at  the  college  and  there 
should  be  one,  necessarily.  The  chemical  and  mechanical  laboratories  are 
in  the  main  college  building.  These  should  be  separate  buildings  because 
of  the  danger,  especially  from  the  chemical  laboratory.  The  college  library 
is  in  the  main  building  ;  there  should  be  a  separate  for  it.  There  are  many 
other  improvements  that  ought  to  be  made  there  and  should  be  made  if 
the  institution  had  the  funds  to  make  them,  but  they  cannot  be  made  for 
want  of  funds  ;  and  the  State,  having  undertaken  the  administration  of 
that  fund,  pledged  its  faith  to  Congress  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the 
act,  should  have  provided  all  of  those  necessary  means  of  carrying  out, 
from  the  first  day  the  college  opened  up  to  the  present  time.  It  has  been 
continually  crippled  for  want  of  means.  Then,  there  is  a  ditference  of 
opinion  among  those  who  are  interested  as  to  what  it  ought  to  be ;  some 
claim  that  it  ought  not  to  be  a  college  all,  but  an  agricultural  school,  where 
nothing  but  agriculture  is  taught ;  and  we  have  had  one  or  more  members 
of  the  board  of  trustees  who  contend  that  the  classical  department  should 
be  abolished  and  made  an  agricultural  and  scientific  school.  The  people 
of  Chester  county  have  had  a  portion  of  that  farm  and  they  say  that  farm 
has  been  robbed  for  the  benefit  of  the  college.  Miss  Shortlidge  thinks  the 
preparatory  department  has  been  robbed  for  the  benefit  of  the  college  de- 
partment. Some  of  the  faculty  have  favored  for  years  the  abolition  of 
the  preparatory  department  entirely,  and  that  has  been  one  of  the  ques- 
tions upon  which  the  members  of  the  faculty  have  difficulty.  Members  of 
the  faculty,  and,  it  is  claimed,  some  of  the  members  of  the  trustees,  have 
favored  the  abolition  of  the  industrial  department  of  the  college  requiring 
the  student  to  perform  any  labor  there. 

Q.  Well  I,  understand  that  was  purely  optional. 

A.  No,  sir;  it  is  not  optional  unless  they  have  some  physical  disability. 
The  practicums  are  allotted  to  the  different  classes.  They  have  so  many 
hours,  work  per  week.     It  is  not  ordinary  labor  upon  the  farm  but  always 


336  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No,  18, 

in  the  line  or  their  study.     But  they  are  required  to  perform  their  labor 
the  same  as  they  are  to  pursue  their  studies. 

Q.  Well,  with  the  present  revenue  of  the  colleee,  canyon  make  any  sug- 
gestions how  the  benefit  to  the  public  at  large  could  be  increased  ? 

A.  None  I  can  make.  If  the  public  at  large  would  avail  themselves  of 
its  advantages  they  would  receive  much  more  larger  benefit.  There  is  pro- 
bably not  over  one  fourth  of  the  counties  of  the  State  that  send  delegates. 
Every  county  agricultural  society  are  entitled  to  send  three  delegates, 
every  county  mechanic  society  send  three  delegates;  the  Franklin  Institute, 
Philadelphia,  send  three  delegates,  the  president  of  the  Franklin  Institute 
and  the  president  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  are  ex  officio  members  of 
the  board,  but  frequently  we  do  not  have  over  eight  or  ten  counties  repre- 
sented in  the  college  of  electors.  If  the  agricultural  people  would  take  more 
interest  in  the  college  they  would  receive  greater  benefits  from  it.  If  any 
community  will  not  send  students  to  be  educated,  I  do  not  see  how  they  can 
receive  any  considerable  benefit.  I  am  satisfied  if  they  would  send  students 
there  they  would  receive  benefit  from  it. 

Q.  Is  there  anything  that  lies  within  the  power  of  the  management  to 
increase  those  benefits  ? 

A.  Possibly.  I  do  not  think  the  president  of  the  faculty  and  members 
of  the  faculty  haA^e  made  their  best  exertions  to  increase  the  attendance  of 
students,  yet  we  cannot  point  out  any  particular  member  of  the  faculty 
that  has  been  derelict. 

Q.  What  plan  would  you  suggest  by  which  this  attendance  could  be  in- 
creased ? 

A.  Improving  the  facilities  of  the  college,  in  all  respects,  as  far  as  the 
State  can  improve  it,  inciting  a  more  general  interest  among  the  industrial 
classes  in  its  support,  avoiding  the  mistakes  that  have  been  made  in  the 
past  in  the  selection  of  a  president  of  the  faculty,  and  selecting  new  pro- 
fessors in  place  of  a.ny  that  will  not  exert,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  to  in- 
crease the  attendance  of  students,  and  retain  them  there. 

Q.  Are  there  any  such  ? 

A.  Not  that  I  could  name.  I  presume  that  each  of  them  is  doing  his 
full  duty  in  that  respect. 

Q.  Then,  as  I  understand  you,  Judge,  the  main  ditflculty  lies  in  the  lack 
of  interest  taken  in  the  college  by  the  people,  and  their  failure  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  advantages  which  it  is  now  offering  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  the  location  of  the  college,  away  from  any  large  town,  and  the 
pleasures  that  boys  find  about  large  towns  make  it,  in  some  respects,  not 
an  attractive  place  for  them.  The  labor  required  by  the  students,  in  many 
instances,  is  distasteful  to  them,  and  the  military  exercises  are  obnoxious 
to  some.  If  the  attendance  of  the  college  was  large,  three  or  four  hun- 
dred, that  could  be  made  optional;  but  with  the  attendance  it  is  necessary 
to  make  it  obligatory  to  comply  with  the  act  of  Congress. 
By  Mr.  Newmycr : 

Are  there  anj'  other  questions,  gentlemen  ?  Mr.  Roberts,  have  you  any 
others  ? 

By  Mr.  Alexander: 

Q.  I  have  heard  some  complaints  against  this  college,  that  the  title  to 
the  real  estate  was  vested  in  a  corporation,  and  not  in  the  State,  Will  you 
explain  to  this  committee  how  that  came  about,  and  the  real  state  of  things 
as  they  exist  in  regard  to  it  ? 

A.  In  the  original  incorporation  of  the  college,  the  State  made  the  cor- 
poration, and  directed  it  to  purchase  the  land,  and  it  did  so,  and  the 
title  remains  in  the  corporators,  as  original  taken,  except  the  name  has 


Leg.  Doc."1  Pennsylvania  State  College.  337 

been  changed  to  Pennsylvania  State  College.  Whether  it  was  wise  in  the 
State  to  create  it  a  corporation,  giving  it  existence  as  a  bod}^  corporate, 
independent  of  the  State,  it  is  a  question  tliat  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
now.  I  think,  however,  that  it  was  wise  from  the  failures  that  have  resulted 
in  some  States.  Ohio  State  University,  the  State  directly  manages  it,  and 
the  result  is  at  every  election  it  changes.  It  is  under  political  control,  and 
necessaril}'  produces  failure. 

Q.  Are  these  titles  held  simply  in  trust  ? 

A.  They  are  held  by  the  corporators. 

Q.  What  particular  difference  does  it  make  ? 

A.  None  whatever ;  it  is  under  the  control  of  the  State,  absolutely,  as 
much  as  the  State  can  control  it.     The  trustees  are  chosen  as  the  State 
provides  they  should  be  chosen. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  Was  not  the  building  of  this  immense  structure  unnecessarily  made 
by  the  gentlemen  first  in  charge  ? 

A.  I  believe  intelligent  men  would  differ  on  that  question.  In  my  judg- 
ment I  believe  that  it  was  a  mistake ;  that  if  I  had  the  selection  of  the  kind 
of  a  building  that  should  have  been  erected,  I  would  have  selected  a  differ- 
ent one  at  the  time  the  building  was  erected.  The  building,  however,  is 
not  any  too  large,  but  other  and  additional  buildings  are  required.  I  know 
not  one  of  the  present  board  of  trustees  are,  in  any  manner,  responsible 
for  tire  mistake,  if  it  is  a  mistake.  I  have,  Mr.  Chairman,  a  catalogue  for 
the  3'ear  1880  and  ISiil,  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  faculty,  with 
Joseph  Shortlidge,  A.M.,  president.  It  contains  a  list  of  the  students  in 
attendance  upon  the  college  in  that  college  year,  together  with  the  gradu- 
ates of  the  year  previous,  and  so  on.  I  have  hastily  run  over  the  list  of 
students,  and  in  the  four  college  classes  there  is  not  one  name — not  one 
single  name — of  a  student  that  came  there,  or  was  brought  there,  by  Pro- 
fessor Shortlidge.  The  only  students  that  came  there,  or  were  brought 
there,  by  him,  are  in  the  preparatory  years. 

Q.  How  many  were  there  of  those  ? 

A.  I  cannot  tell  certainly,  because  there  is  only  the  post-office  address 
and  not  the  county  given ;  but  I  find  Mar}'  E.  Shortlidge,  Concordville, 
daughter  of  the  president ;  Mary  P.  Worth  probably  came  with  him  from 
Chester  county.     Those  are  the  only  two  that  I  recognize  in  the  second 

year,  and  here  is  Edward  R.  M ,  of  Philadelphia ;    I  presume  it  is 

possible  that  he  brought  that  one  ;  and  Charles  P.  Shortlidge,  Concordville. 
Here  is  two  others  I  am  not  sure  whether  he  brought  them  or  not.  Then 
there  are  two  or  three  other  names,  but  they  were  all  in  the  preparatory 
department. 

Q.  And  left  with  him  ? 

A.  Some  of  them,  I  think  ;  most  of  them  left.  Some  of  them  left  when 
he  did,  and  the  balance  left  at  the  end  of  the  college  year,  three  months 
later.  There  are,  probably,  eight,  or  ten,  or  twelve  altogether,  out  of  a 
total  of  something  over  one  hundred  and  twenty. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of  maintaining  those  ex- 
perimental farms  in  Chester  and  Indiana  counties  ? 

A.  If  the  State  would  furnish  the  means  for  a  scientific  experimental 
station,  I  believe  it  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  the  agriculturists  of 
Pennsylvania.  Unless  that  is  done,  I  think  it  is  useless  to  make  an  appro- 
priation there,  when  so  little  good  comes  from  the  experiments  of  the 
Eastern  farm,  and  really  nothing,  as  far  as  experiments  are  concerned, 
upon  the  Western  farm.  My  own  judgment  is  that,  inless  the  State  is 
willing  to  furnish  a  very  considerable  fund  in  maintaining  and  equipping 
22— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


338  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

these  two  farms,  it  would  be  wise  to  sell  those  two  farms,  and  add  that  to 
the  endowment,  and  to  establish  and  maintain  a  scientific  experimental 
station  on  the  Central  farm,  near  the  college. 

Q.  As  matters  now  stand,  with  the  revenue  you  now  have,  do  you  regard 
those  farms  anything  like  a  success  ? 

A.  I  can  hardly  speak  of  the  Eastern  farm.  Since  Mr.  Hickman  has 
had  the  superintendency,  I  have  not  visited  it.  I  would  not  like  to  say 
what  it  will  be  under  his  administration.  Prior  to  his  going  there  it  cer- 
tainly was  not.  The  Western  farm  has  not  been  run  since  I  have  been  a 
member  of  the  board  as  an  experimental  farm.  The  entire  farm  needs  to 
be  under-drained  before  it  is  suitable  for  that  purpose.  Those  farms  were 
purchased  before  I  was  in  the  board.  The  Western  farm  is  a  valuable 
propert}',  and  will  sell  now  for  far  more  than  it  cost  the  college,  although 
complaints  have  been  made  that  they  paid  more  than  it  was  worth. 

Q.  How  much  was  appropriated  to  buy  those  farms  ? 

A.  The  one  tenth  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  land  sci'ip.  The 
act  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State  directed  that  that  amount  should  be 
invested  in  experimental  farms — one  at  the  college,  one  in  the  western  and 
one  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State. 

Q.  Except  that  $5,000.  has  the  State  paid  any  money  to  those  farms  ? 

A.  Not  any  at  all,  except  indirectly.  Of  course  part  of  this  endowment 
fund  is  appropriated  to  maintaining  those  farms. 

The  public  generally  have  been  misled,  and  falsely  so,  as  to  the  amount 
of  money  that  the  State  has  furnished  toward  the  establishment  or  main- 
tenance toward  this  college.  It  is  estimated  in  various  waj-^s,  running  out 
into  millions.  The  St.  Clair  committee  reported  considerably  over  a  mil- 
lion. They  counted  all  of  this  appropriation  two  or  three  times  over,  made 
the  proceeds  of  the  land  scrip  one  fund,  and  then  computed  that  again  in 
another,  and  counted  it  over  two  or  three  times.  Since  1872  the  State,  in 
fact,  has  paid  the  interest  of  the  college,  and  added  $89,709  50  to  the  en- 
dowment fund,  and  six  per  cent,  on  that  amount  is  ah  that  the  State  has 
been  giving  them.  They  never  paid  the  principal  of  that. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer: 

Q-  They  paid  that  in  to  make  the  fund  half  a  million  ? 

A.   Yes,  sir. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  $410,29  )  5o  the  Slate  had  received  from  the  sale  of  the  land  scrip? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  The  total  appropriations,  including  that  $89,709  5<»,  are 
$279,609  50,  and  in  addition  $5,000  which  the  State  appropriated  to  the 
Eastern  farm. 

Q.  Is  there  any  way  by  which  the  expense  of  the  college  could  be  re- 
duced and  its  efficiency  not  impaired  ? 

I.  I  believe  not.  We  have  been  in  a  perpetual  struggle  to  keep  the  ap- 
propriations of  each  department  down  to  the  lowest  practical  sum.  The 
laboratories,  the  library,  and  the  various  departments,  really  need  much 
more  than  we  are  able  to  give  them  annually.  The  salaries  of  the  pro- 
fessors are  as  low  as  it  is  possible  to  obtain  competent  instructors. 

Q.  Could  the  number  be  reduced  ? 

A.  I  think  not,  unless  we  change  the  entire  character  of  the  institution. 

Q.  How  many  more  students  could  be  accommodated  there  ? 

A.  Two  hundred,  by  putting  two  in  a  room. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Mr.  Roberts  has  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  the  land  scrip  by  the  commission  amounted  to  more  than 
$♦11,000.  ,  . 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  339 

A.  The  whole  amount  was  $439,1 8fi  80,  but  out  of  that  those  experi- 
mental farms  were  purchased,  leaving  the  amount  that  was  gathered  into 
the  State  treasury  as  we  have  given  it.  The  actual  amount  converted  into 
the  State  treasury  the  time  this  bond  was  issued,  was  $410,290  5(>,  which 
left  $89,700  50  less  than  half  a  million,  but  then  the  experimental  farms 
had  been  purchased  out  of  the  proceeds  of  that  land  scrip. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  want  to  say  that  this  committee  will  probably  sug- 
gest some  plan  or  plans  to  render  this  institution  of  greater  efficiency.  I 
would  like  to  ask  Judge  Orvis  if  he  can  give  us  any  suggestions  as  to  any 
changes  that  might  be  made  to  greater  benefit  institution  and  the  people  at 
large  ? 

A.  Not  any  more  than  I  have  given. 

Q.  A  great  many  things  might  be  suggested — building  a  railroad  ? 

A.  Oh,  yes ;  if  the  Lewisburg  and  Tyrone  railroad  was  built  to  pass  the 
college  it  would  remove  one  of  the  objections,  and  a  very  serious  one  to 
many  people.  I  believe  that  the  location  of  the  college  is  an  excellent  one, 
as  far  as  a  place  to  send  boys  and  girls  to  be  educated,  but  the  boys  and 
girls  pi'efer  to  be  near  a  large  town. 

Q,  In  the  organization  of  the  institution  it  is  prohibited  by  act  of  As- 
sembly to  sell  liquor  within  two  miles  ?  i     ^ 

A.  Two  miles  of  the  college  building. 

Q.  Is  that  pretty  rigidly  enforced  ? 

A.  For*  the  last  eight  years  I  have  had  the  granting  of  the  licenses  of 
Centre  county,  with  the  associate  judges  on  the  bench.  I  know  that  none 
have  been  granted.  Seven  miles  is  the  nearest  licensed  house  to  the  col- 
lege. Pine  Grove  Mills,  which  is  some  seven  or  eight  miles,  is  the  nearest 
one.  Pleasant  Gap,  where  Mr.  Haag  lives,  about  niHe  miles  from  the  col- 
lege, is  next,  and  the  next  place  is  Beliefonte,  which  is  twelve  miles  from 
the  college.  There  was  at  one  time,  some  five  or  six  years  ago,  that  a  party 
was  selling  without  license  at  Lemont,  which  is  about  three  miles  from  the 
college.  The  party  was  prosecuted  and  convicted  and  punished. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  Is  there  an}'  place  in  Boalsburg  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  no  licenses  granted  in  Boalsburg  since  I  have  been  in  the 
county.  There  was  no  license  granted  in  Pine  Grove  for  many  years  until 
this  year.  Most  of  the  complaints  on  that  subject  are  in  the  other  direc- 
tion, that  they  could  get  nothing  to  drink,  and  they  are  generally  made  by 
newspaper  men.  Most  of  the  complaints  on  the  subject  of  drink  is  that 
they  could  get  nothing  to  drink,  and  they  are  generally  made  by  news- 
paper men. 

General  James  A.  Beaver,  sworn  : 

By  Mr.  Alexander. 

Q.  State  what  your  connection  has  been  with  the  Peiinsjivania  State 
College,  when  it  commenced,  and  in  what  capacity  you  have  acted. 

A.  On  the  6th  day  of  September  next  it  will  be  twenty-six  years  since  I 
came  to  Bellefonte  directly  from  college.  I  was  a  graduate  of  JeflTerson 
College.  I  entered  the  law  office  of  H.  N.  McAllister  as  a  student,  and  I 
might  say  that  from  that  day  to  this  I  have  been  more  or  less  connected 
with  the  State  College.  As  his  student,  I  acted  largely  as  his  clerk,  and 
there  was  hardly  a  daj^  in  that  office,  from  the  time  I  entered  it  down  to 
the  present  time,  that  the  Farmers'  High  School,  or  Agricultural  College, 
or  Pennsylvania  State  College  has  not  had  more  or  less  of  consideration. 
At  the  time  that  I  came  here,  the  citizens  of  Centre  county  were  complet- 


340  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

ing  a  subscription  of  $10,000,  in  order  to  secure  the  location  of  the  college 
in  this  county,  and  Mr.  McAllister  was  giving  his  earnest  attention  to 
solicit  subscriptions  in  order  to  complete  that  fund,  and  among  my  duties 
in  the  office  was  to  transcribe  that  list  of  contributions.  The  land  was 
contributed.  In  addition  to  that,  General  Irvin  had  donated,  in  order  to 
secure  the  location  of  the  college,  four  hundred  acres  of  land  in  what  was 
then  Harris  township.  The  college  had  been  located  on  that  ground  by 
the  committee  appointed  by  the  board  of  trustees.  My  impression  is  that 
the  board  had  been  organized,  perhaps  a  year  or  so,  possibly  two  years, 
previously.  Nothing  had  been  done  in  the  way  of  putting  up  the  college 
building  when  I  came,  but  that  soon  followed  that  work.  Perhaps  the 
same  month  that  I  came  here,  the  month  of  September,  there  was  a  meet- 
ing at  the  college  of  the  electors  from  the  several  counties,  in  order  to 
elect  the  trustees,  whose  term  of  office  had  expired  that  year,  and  I  then 
met,  for  the  first  time,  with  members  of  the  trustees  of  the  college  ;  men 
who  were  prominent  in  its  management,  and  who  I  came  to  know  after- 
wards intimately.  Those  gentlemen  were  Judge  Watts,  of  Cumberland 
count3%  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  ;  Judge  Miles,  of  Erie  county  ; 
Judge  Hiester,  of  Dauphin  county,  and  other  gentlemen  of  like  character 
and  influence.  The  three  whom  I  have  named,  together  with  Mr.  McAllis- 
ter, constituted,  in  a  great  part,  the  working  force  of  the  board  of 
trustees.  They  all  remained  in  the  board  until  the  time  of  their  death, 
or  in  the  case  of  the  survivors,  until  the  time  until  I  came  intc^  the  board. 
Judge  Miles  died  previously  to  1873,  Mr.  McAllister  died  in  May,  1873, 
and  Judge  Watts  and  Judge  Hiester,  who  are  still  living,  came  into  the 
board  at  the  time  I  was  elected,  to  take  Mr.  McAllister's  place.  I  can 
recall  a  number  of  other  gentlemen  prominent  in  the  agricultural  and  busi- 
ness interests  of  Penns3'lvania  who  were  connected  with  the  board  from 
time  to  time,  and  who  gave  inteligent  care  and  laborious  interest  to  the 
institution  and  its  wants.  And  in  regard  to  those  gentlemen,  I  can  say  in 
general  terms,  that  I  never  saw  a  body  of  men  who  labored  with  more  of 
self-sacrifice,  zeal,  and  earnestness  than  these  men  who,  as  boy  and  man,  I 
met  for  fifteen  to  seventeen  years  before  I  came  into  the  board. 

The  plans — I  remember  very  distinctly  when  the  plans  for  the  college 
building  were  submitted  to  the  board  of  trustees.  The  plan  of  the  build- 
ing, or  the  plan  of  the  present  building,  was  one  which  was  prepared  by 
an  architect  in  Carlisle,  and  was  one  which  was  advocated  by  Judge  Watts 
very  strongly,  and  was  the  one  finally  adopted,  and  the  contract  for  its 
erection  was  given  to  contractors  from  Carlisle,  Messrs.  Turner  &  Nacher, 
and  even  before  the  west  wing  of  the  college  was  completed  Turner  retired 
from  the  firm,  and  Nacher  failed  badly.  The  entire  management  of  the 
building  and  the  details — all  the  details  of  it — devolved  then  upon  Mr. 
McAllister,  who  was  the  resident  trustee,  and  in  order  to  prevent  the  filing 
of  mechanics'  liens,  he  undertook  to  see  that  every  man  employed  about 
the  institution  and  every  person  who  furnished  material  of  any  kind  should 
be  paid  directly  from  the  college  treasury,  without  paying  the  money 
through  the  contractor.  And  I  have  gotten  up  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
many  a  time  and  wrote,  first,  the  order  for  the  contractor  to  sign,  secondly, 
to  the  check  that  was  to  be  paid  to  the  person,  and,  thirdly,  the  receipt 
from  the  person  to  the  board  of  trustees,  and  we  got  all  ready  to  pay  it, 
and  Mr.  McAllister  would  be  over  there  before  four  o'clock,  so  that  he 
could  pay  the  men  before  six  o'clock,  and  that  occurred  regularly  every 
pay-day.  Shortly  after  the  western  wing  was  opened  for  the  reception  of 
students,  and  before  the  first — I  think  before  the  first  class  had  graduated — 
the  war,  our  late  war,  came  on,  and  inasmuch  as  I  became  connected  with 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  341 

the  army,  I  know  very  little  of  the  details  of  the  college  up  to  the  time  of 
my  return,  in  N'ovember,  1864.  During  that  time  the  completion  of  the 
college  building  had  been  relet,  and  the  contractor  was  George  W.  Tate, 
of  this  town.  My  recollection  is,  that  the  building  was  well  on  toward 
completion  when  I  returned,  and  that  it  was  perhaps  entirely'  completed 
the  year  following.  The  price  of  labor  and  materials  had  so  advanced  in 
consequence  of  the  rise  in  the  value  of  money  during  the  war  that  it  re- 
quired more  to  complete  the  unfinished  part  of  the  building  than  the  ori- 
ginal contract  price  of  the  entire  building.  And  that,  in  part,  accounted 
for  the  deficit  which  was  funded  in  this  $80,C00  mortgage,  of  which  Judge 
Orvis  has  spoken.  The  trustees,  when  they  laid  out  their  plans,  expected 
to  complete  them  within  the  means  which  they  thought  they  had  on  hand. 
The  first  appropriation  of  the  Legislature,  and  afterwards  the  subsequent 
appropriations,  conditioned  that  the  friends  of  the  college  would  raise  a 
similar  sum. 

After  the  donation  of  the  two  hundred  acres  of  land  by  General 
Irvin,  in  order  to  secure  the  location  of  the  college,  the  trustees  en- 
tered into  negotiations  with  him  for  the  purchase  of  two  hundred  acres 
additional,  immediately  adjoining  what  he  had  donated,  and  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  land  in  that  immediate  neighborhood  had  sold, 
though  not  improved,  as  high  as  seventy-two  dollars  per  acre.  General 
Irvin  agreed  to  sell  to  the  college  those  two  hundred  acres  at  the  rate  of 
sixty  dollars  an  acre,  and  donated  $1,000  dollars  of  that,  making  the  sale 
net  him  $11,000  for  two  hundred  acres  of  land.  I  make  this  statement 
merel}'  in  justice  to  the  memory  of  a  just  and  generous  man.  I  doubt 
whether  there  was  a  single  year,  from  the  time  the  college  building  was 
completed  up  to  the  year  of  187H,  in  which  the  college  didn't  run  in 
debt.  The3'  undertook  when  they  started  out  to  educate  the  students  for 
one  hundred  dollars  a  year  and  included,  in  what  they  called  education, 
boarding,  washing,  fuel,  tuition,  lights  and  text-books,  so  that  the  entire 
expenses  of  the  students,  independent  of  traveling  expenses  and  clothing, 
without  any  charge  for  room  rent  or  incidentals  or  anything  else,  was  to 
be  one  hundred  dollars,  and  there  never  was  a  day  that  did  not  cost  the 
college  over  two  hundred  dollars,  as  they  soon  found  to  their  cost.  That 
amount  was  subsequently  raised  to  two  hundred  dollars  in  the  course  of, 
perhaps,  several  years — I  don't  just  know  how  many — and  it  was  found  that 
that  did  not  pay  the  cost  of  education,  and  as  Judge  Orvis  said  yesterday, 
when  I  was  elected  in  1873, — June,  18T3, — the  floating  debt  of  the  college 
was  over  $55,000,  and  its  funded  debt  $80,(iOtt ;  and  I  ascertained,  upon  in- 
quiry, that  they  had  increased  the  indebtedness* #8,000  a  jenr  previously. 
In  trying  to  ascertain  where  the  leak  was,  or  where  the  deficiency  arose,  I 
concluded  that  the  boarding  department  was  the  leaking  place  and,  there- 
fore, at  the  first  meeting  of  the  board,  in  Harrisburg,  the  January  after  I 
was  elected,  I  recommended  the  abolition  of  the  boarding  department  en- 
tirely. I  did  not  think  it  was  a  part  of  the  college  proper,  and  it  ought  to 
be  in  private  hands,  and  the  students  would  be  better  satisfied  to  select 
their  own  boarding  places,  and  pay  whatever  they  get  their  board  for. 
That  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  the  assets  of  the  boarding  department 
was  sold  out  in  the  spring. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer  : 

Q.  What  are  the  facilities  for  obtaining  boarding  around  that  college  ? 

A.  There  are,  I  suppose,  a  half  dozen  hoarding  houses.  There  is  an 
hotel,  temperance  hotel ;  there  are  three  or  four,  perhaps  more  than  that, 
private  boarding  houses,  and  the  college  authorities  give  to  the  students' 
boarding  club,  which  is  carried  on  in  the  college,  the  use  of  certain  premises 


342  .  Report  of  the  Committee.  [Xo,  18, 

in  the  college  which  they  have  for  the  purposes  of  their  club.  The  .young 
men  manage  the  boarding  club  themselves,  the  business  part  of  it,  and  are 
enabled  to  furnish  good  boarding  at  about  two  dollars  per  week,  perhaps 
a  little  more  or  a  little  less,  according  to  the  kind  of  provision  they  fur- 
nish. The  ordinary  price  of  board  in  the  neighborhood  is,  I  think,  three 
dollars  per  week.  The  indebtedness  of  the  college  was  so  great  when  we 
came  to  investigate  its  true  financial  condition  that  Mr.  Turner,  Joseph  C. 
Turner,  the  member  of  the  board  from  Chester  county,  an-^  a  man  who 
took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  the  college,  and  an  intelli2:ent  interest,  too, 
told  me  that  he  had  come  up  the  institution  and  part  with  it,  it  could  not 
be  longer  carried,  llie  board  of  trustees  determined,  at  that  meeting  at 
Harrisburg,  that  instead  of  increasing  the  indebtedness  annually  they 
would  do  what  any  prudent  business  man  would  do,  reduce  the  expenses 
within  the  income,  and  provide  a  sinking  fund,  too.  And  in  order  to  do 
that  a  schedule  of  appropriations  was  arranged,  proAdding  first  foi'  the 
fixed  charges,  those  which  were  fixed  by  the  legal  obligations  of  the  col- 
lege ;  secondly,  sinking  fund,  and  divided  the  balance  in  such  a  way  as 
would  best  subserve  the  educational  and  other  interests  of  the  college. 
We  had  then,  as  I  have  said,  this  mortgage  of  $80,000,  the  interest  of 
which  is  $5,BU0  dollars  annually.  We  had  $55,000,  and  over,  of  a  floating 
debt,  which  was  carried  in  banks  at  a  pretty  high  rate  of  interest  in  some 
of  them,  and  the  first  appropriation  on  that  schedule,  as  T  remember,  was 
f  *<,B00  for  interest.  There  were  taxes  to  be  paid  and  insurance  to  be  paid. 
Those  were  provided  for.  There  was  then,  I  think,  an  appropriation  for 
$.'>,000  or  $6,000  dollars  to  the  sinking  fund,  and  the  balance  left  after 
those  appropriations,  which  equaled  at  least  half  of  the  revenue,  was  di- 
vided between  the  expei'imental  farms  and  the  college  in  what  was  consid- 
ered at  that  time  equitable  proportions.  The  experimental  farms,  previous 
to  that  time,  had  received  $6,0i)0  annually,  or  $i,000  each.  If  that  rate  of 
expenditure  had  been  continued  at  the  time  T  refer  to,  it  would  have  left 
the  trustees  considerably  less  than  $10,000  with  which  to  run  the  entire 
educational  department  of  the  college,  equip  its  laboratories,  provide  for 
its  laboratories,  and  supply  the  many  demands  of  the  institution,  which 
nobody  can  understand  who  has  not  tried  to  run  it.'  Of  course,  that  was 
simply  out  of  the  question,  and  inasmuch  as  retrenchment  was  necessary 
in  the  educational  department,  we  were  compelled  to  dispense  with  the 
services  of  some  professor  and  reduce  the  salaries  of  others,  it  was  thought 
that  it  would  be  only  fair  that  the  appropriation  to  the  experimental  farms 
should  be  reduced  in  about  the  same  proportion,  and  my  recollection  is 
that  the  appropriation  to  the  experimental  farms  was  about  $3,OUO,  divided 
equally  between  the  three  farms. 

Since  that  time  the  appropriations  have  been  as  low  as  $2,200,  but  at  no 
time,  that  I  can  recollect,  until  within  the  last  two  years,  has  the  appropri- 
ation to  the  Eastern  experimental  farm  never  been  less  than  $l,Oi)<',  what- 
ever schedule  of  appropriation  has  been  made  upon  the  Central  and  West- 
ern. The  Western  farm  was  considerably  in  debt  at  the  time  I  came  into 
the  board,  and  has  continued  to  be  so  until  within  the  last  two  years,  and 
now  they  have  some  fund  on  hand  and  a  considerable  sum  to  their  credit, 
which  is  being  saved  for  the  purpose  finally  of  building  a  barn,  which  is 
very  greatly  needed  on  that  farm.  The  Central  farm,  since  I  came  into 
the  board,  has  never  received  more  than  $l,0(iO,  and  some  3'ears  as  low  as 
$400.  The  era,  during  which  I  have  hpd  the  honor  of  being  connected 
with  this  college,  may  be  called  the  debt-paying  era.  The  meeting  of  the 
trustees  had  been  to  simply  establish  and  hold  what  they  believed,  and 
what  some  still  believe  to  be  the  foundation  of  a  great  and  useful  institu- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  343 

tion  appropriating  the  one  half  or  more  of  the  Income  to  the  liquidation 
of  certain  fixed  liabilities  which  did  not  assist,  in  any  sense,  in  the  educa- 
tion in  which  the  college  was  bound  to  give. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  board  of  trustees  were  very  much  limited 
and  cramped  for  means  in  providing  what  was  essential,  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  of  Congress  and  the  laws  of  our  own  State,  to  be  given 
in  the  education  furnished  at  the  college.  From  ls76,  at  the  time  when 
Judge  Orvis  came  into  the  board,  up  until  the  present  time,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  three  months  or  more  which  he  has  referred  to,  we  have 
cooperated  together,  as  members  of  the  executive  committee,  in  approving 
all  the  details  of  expenditures  of  appropriations  made  by  the  board  an- 
nually*. We  have  become  familiar  with  everything  connected  with  the  col- 
lege ;  and  the  more  I  become  familiar  with  the  workings  of  the  institution, 
with  its  plans  and  its  possibilities,  the  more  I  am  convinced  that  there  are 
involved  in  it  elements  of  great  usetulness  to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania 
at  large,  and  especially  for  the  industrial  classes,  for  whose  benefit  the  in- 
stitution was  founded.  Although  the  floating  debt  is  not  yet  fully  paid,  it 
is  reduced  to  such  proportions  that  it  is  easily  handled,  and  the  financial 
credit  of  the  institution  is  such  that  we  can  borrow  mone^^  on  the  paper  of 
the  institution  without  individual  indorsement,  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent, 
per  annum.  Sometimes  in  the  stringency  of  the  money  market  the  trustees 
are  compelled  to  give  their  individual  indorsement  to  paper,  and  we  pay  on 
portions  of  what  we  carry  six  per  cent. ;  but  from  the  time  that  I  came 
into  the  board,  and  a  year  after,  the  institution  has  never  paid,  except 
upon  the  funded  debt,  which  was  fixed  by  the  Legislature — have  we  ever 
paid  more  than  six  per  cent,  for  money.  The  interest  appropriation,  which 
was  $8,300  in  1814,  does  not  now  exceed  $2,2(>U,  and  next  year  will,  I  am 
satisfied,  not  exceed  $2,0(iO.  As  this  appropriation  and  the  appropriation 
to  the  sinking  fund  were  reduced,  we  have  graduallj^  enlarged  the  curricu- 
lum of  the  college  ;  have  had  new  professors,  so  as  to  give  instruction  in 
the  enlarged  curriculum,  and  are  gradually  approaching,  although  we  have 
not  yet  attained  what  is  provided  for  in  the  act  of  Congress  under  which 
we  enjoy  the  munificence  of  the  genfral  Government.  Any  man  who 
makes  a  conscientious  study  of  that  act  of  Congress,  and  endeavors  to 
bring  the  institution  founded  under  it  up  to  what  he  believes  are  its  just 
requirements,  will  find  that  $3",<i(Kt  annually  comes  very  far  short  of  what 
is  necessary  to  faithfully  comply  with  its  terms.  The  industrial  interests 
of  Pennsylvania  are  such  that  if  we  expect  to  give  the  industrial  classes, 
for  whose  benefit  the  institution  was  founded,  a  liberal  education,  which 
will  fit  them  for  the  various  pursuits  and  professions  of  life,  which  will  in- 
clude those  branches  of  learning  which  relate  to  agriculture  and  the  me- 
chanics arts,  including  military  tactics,  and  not  excluding  the  classics  and 
other  scientific  studies,  we  must  very  much  enlarge  the  scope  of  this  in- 
stitution. 

A  careful  study  of  the  present  course  laid  down  in  the  catalogue  of  the 
institution,  will  show  a  very  marked  advance,  not  only  in  the  number  of 
courses,  but  in  the  scope  of  all  of  them,  and  jet  we  have  no  provision 
for  mining  engineering,  no  sufl[icient  provision  for  mechar^ical  engineering, 
aud  very  limited  provision  for  civil  engineering,  three  branches  which,  in 
our  dav  embraces,  probably,  the  half  of  what  we  maj'  call  the  practical 
walks  of  life  for  our  industrial  classes.  ]f  Pennsj'lvania  is  true  to  the 
pledges  which  she  made,  by  her  Legislature,  in  accepting  from  the  general 
government  the  proceeds  of  this  donation  of  land,  she  must  honestly  and 
faithfully  keep  the  faith  which  I  have  sketched  as  the  legitimate  sphere  of 
this  college,  in  donations  to  the  departments  of  agriculture,  mechanics. 


844  Report  of  the  Committee.  fNo.  18 

general  science,  liberal  and  natural  sciences,  which  are  already  founded 
and  equipped  at  the  college. 

Inquiries  of  the  committee,  as  I  understand  it,  are  directed  as  much  to 
what  needs  to  be  done  as  to  what  has  been  done,  and  I  may  refer  the  gen- 
tlemen of  this  committee,  some  of  whom  will  remain  in  the  coming  Legis- 
lature, to  some  of  the  pressing  needs  of  the  institution,  which  will  impress 
themselves  upon  their  minds,  if  they  give  careful  inspection  to  the  sur- 
roundings which  they  will  find  at  the  college  when  they  visit  it.  The 
building,  large  as  it  is,  is  already  crowded,  not  by  students,  but  by  labora- 
tories, recitation-rooms,  society  halls,  chapel,  armory,  professors'  apart- 
ments and  other  necessary  adjuncts  to  colleare  equipments.  The  cha]:)el, 
which  you  will  see,  if  you  attend  any  of  the  public  exercises,  is  less 
than  one  half  the  size  which  it  ought  to  be.  There  is  no  place  in  or  about 
the  college  which  contains,  on  ordinary  public  occasions,  nearly  all  of  the 
people  who  attend,  and  delight  to  attend  those  exercises.  The  laboratories, 
which  are  shown  by  recent  experience  at  Lafayette  and  at  Swarthraore.  are 
very  dangerous  when  confined  within  the  walls  of  the  institution  or  located 
as  they  were  at  the  Pardee  Hall  and  Swarthmore  College,  under  the  college 
buildings.  A  separate  building  should  be  provided  for  chemical  and  physi- 
cal laboratories.  Our  physical  laboratory  is  small,  and  for  three  years  the 
board  has  listened  to  the  appeals  of  the  professor  to  take  out  the  ceiling 
above  his  laboratory,  in  order  to  give  him  room  for  making  what  he  deems 
absolutely  essential  experiments  in  his  department.  This  was  deemed  en- 
tirely out  of  the  question  for  many  reasons,  and  the  physical  department 
is  therefore  confined,  and  its  usefulness  impaired  for  want  of  room. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  botanical  laboratory  and  the  mechanic  work 
shops  and  the  agricultural  department  and,  indeed,  of  all  the  leading  scien- 
tific departments  of  the  institution.  The  classical  department  and  that  of 
modern  language  are  the  onl}-  ones  which  haA^e  accommodations  suited 
to  their  needs.  Now  the  modern  language  has  been  turned  out  of  its 
quarters  in  order  to  add  it  to  the  drawing-room,  which  is  necessary  in  the 
department  of  mechanical  engineering,  and  Professor  Reeves  hears  his  reci- 
tations in  the  library.  The  library  of  the  college  is  becoming  more  and 
more  valuable  each  year  and  it  should  be  secured,  together  with  the  mu- 
seum, which  contains  among  other  things  the  valuable  collection  of  miner- 
als made  by  Professor  Rogers  in  the  geological  survey  of  Pennsylvania, 
(first  survey)  should  be  secured  in  a  building  entirely  fire  proof  They 
are  now  contained  in  the  college  building.  The  department  of  agriculture 
has  long  needed  and  vainly  begged  for  a  grain-house,  hay-house  and  pro- 
pagating-house,  without  which  much  of  the  instruction  in  that  department 
is  of  little  value,  because  not  practically  exemplified,  I  may  say  here,  in 
passing,  that  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  this  institution  and  one  which  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  every  other  of  which  I  have  knowledge  is  the  eflfort,  large- 
ly successful,  in  carrying  out  in  practice  through  the  practicums  every- 
thing taught  in  the  class-room.  This  is  becoming  more  and  more  true 
of  other  institutions ;  but  I  know  of  none  in  which  it  is  carried  to  such  an 
extent  as  at  the  Pennsylvania  State  College,  and  it  has  been  so  from  the 
very  first.  Its  students  have  taken  high  rank  in  chemistry,  and  are  filling 
places  requiring  practical  knowledge  of  chemistry,  largely  due  to  the  cause 
that  laboratory  practice  was  made  part  of  the  every-day  dut}'^  of  chemical 
instruction  from  the  time  when  Dr.  Pugh  first  took  charge  of  its  aflfairs, 
upon  his  arrival  from  Germany.  Its  lalsoratories  are  not  as  extensive  nor 
so  well  equipped  as  those  of  many  other  colleges,  and  yet  I  am  sure  there 
are  none  an3'where  in  which  more  honest  work  is  done  and  more  faithful 
instruction  given.     This  is  especially  true  of  agricultural  chemistry,  physi- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  .  345 

eal  and  horticulture.     All  of  which  are  or  have  been  until  recently,  under 
the  charge  of  thoroughly  competent  and  elfioient  professors. 

The  vacancy  in  the  department  of  chemistry,  which  took  place  by  the 
resignation  of  Professor  Smith,  in  January  last,  is  one  that  will  be  difficult 
to  fill  hy  a  professor  who  will  give  to  the  institution  the  faithful  service, 
the  single-hearted  devotion,  and  the  effcient  instruction  which  Professor 
Smith  carried  into  his  department,  and  which  he  rendered  to  the  college  at 
an  annual  loss  to  himself  of  as  much,  or  more  than  he  received  from  the  col- 
lege, in  the  way  of  compensation.  He  came  to  the  college  several  3'ear8 
ago,  when  the  department  of  chemistry  was  in  a  very  bad  condition  ;  left 
a  lucrative  position,  which  paid  him  several  hundred  dollars  more,  annually, 
than  the  college  offered  him.  He  accepted  the  reduction  of  salary,  rendered 
necessary  by  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  which  appropriated  the  money  to 
pa}'^  the  mortgage  debt,  heretofore  referred  to,  and  retained  his  position  in 
the  face  of  numerous  offers  to  go  to  other  institutions  and  to  engage  in 
business,  at  a  much  higher  salary  than  he  was  paid  or  could  be  offered  by 
our  college.  He  has  received  for  the  last  few  years  $1,S50  per  annum, 
and  accepted  an  offer,  when  he  resigned,  which  he  had  a  number  of  times 
previously  refused,  to  go  into  business  at  a  salary  of  $3,000  and  other  per- 
quisites. The  other  departments  to  which  I  have  referred,  are  presided 
over  by  Professor  Jordan,  Professor  Buckhout,  and  Professor  Osmond, 
all  of  whom  are  regarded,  by  those  who  know  them,  as  singularly  well 
qualified  for  their  responsible  places,  and  who  give  to  the  college  intelligent 
and  successful  labor.  Judge  Or  vis  has  so  fully  covered  the  ground  in- 
volved in  the  business  management  of  the  institution,  since  he  became  a 
member  of  the  board  in  1875,  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  even  to 
refer  to  that  branch  of  the  inquiry  of  this  committee,  except  to  add  some 
reasons  which,  in  my  judgment,  account  for  the  failure  on  the  part  of  the 
industrial  classes  of  Pennsylvania  to  avail  themselves  of  the  unequaled 
facilities  which  are  affordedthem  at  this  institution.  The  main  reason  for 
this  failure  is  a  want  of  knowledge,  and  that  want  of  knowledge  results 
from  the  failure  of  the  institution  to  make  itself  known,  and  that  failure 
results  from  the  fact  that  the  men  who  were  employed  at  the  college,  as 
president  of  the  faculty  and  professors  in  the  institution,  have  been  chosen 
rather  with  a  view  to  their  professional  attainments  and  their  ability  to 
fill  the  legitimate  wants  of  their  several  departments,  than  their  ability  to 
practically  advertise  themselves  and  the  institution.  A  good  business 
man  at  the  head  of  the  institution,  who  would  put  himself  in  communica- 
tion with  and  bring  the  public  press  of  this  State  into  sympathy  with  him 
and  the  college,  would,  in  one  year,  revolutionize  the  entire  public  senti- 
ment of  Pennsylvania  on  this  whole  question.  The  newspaper  press  of 
Pennsj'lvania  does  not  care  to  indulge  in  warfare,  and  yet  they  have 
resorted  to  it  in  reference  to  this  institution,  simply  because  those  who 
had  charge  of  the  institution  and  who  should  have  given  directions  to  pub- 
lic sentiment  in  this  respect  have  never  grasped  the  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  have  never  made  any  real  effort  to  reach  those  who  control  those 
fountains  of  public  information.  The  trustees  have  time  and  time  and 
again  endeavored  to  impress  the  importance  of  this  subject  upon  the  faculty, 
have  mapped  out  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  reference  to  it,  have  made 
liberal  appropriations  for  advertising  and  printing,  and  yet  for  some  rea- 
son— and  the  cause,  I  think,  is  found  in  what  I  have  already  stated  as  to 
th^  qualifications  of  the  men  who  were  chosen  for  their  professional  rather 
than  their  practical  life — the  results  at  which  the  board  aimed  have  never 
been  reached  or  even  approximated.  Professor  McKee,  who  is  an  admira- 
ble scholar,  but  who  is  as  modest  as  he  is  learned,  and  who  is  now  acting 


346  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

president  of  the  institution  simply  from  the  stress  of  circumstances,  has 
done  but  little  during  the  past  year  in  this  respect  because  he  is  only  act- 
ing, and  has  always  resolutely  refused  to  be  considered  as  a  candidate  for 
the  office  of  president,  as  Judge  Orvis  remarked  last  evening,  I  know  of 
no  professor  of  the  college  who  has  ever  been  thought  of  seriously,  or  has 
thought  of  himself  or  has  adniitted  a  willingness  to  accept  the  position 
which  is  now  vacant,  and  if  gentlemen  of  this  committee  can  suggest  to  the 
board  the  proper  man  to  fill  the  office  of  president  of  the  State  College, 
they  will  reach  the  root  of  the  difficulty,  and  do  more  to  make  it  a  success- 
ful institution  than  any  other  one  thing  which  the  college  needs  and  the 
public  demands. 

Q.  You  have  read  the  resolution  passed  at  the  session  of  1881,  under 
which  the  committee  was  created  ? 

A.  I  have  read  it. 

Q.  I  was  about  to  ask  you  if  you  had  anything  further  to  communicate 
that  would  throw  light  upon  the  question  which  has  been  submitted  to  this 
committee  for  examination  ? 

A.  There  is  much  contained  in  this  resolution  which  can  only  be  fairly 
met  by  a  personal  inspection  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  committee. 
I  believe  very  firmly  that  the  trustees  of  this  institution  are  doing  all  that 
it  is  possible  to  do  with  the  income  of  this  endowment  fund  in  the  direc- 
tion contemplated  by  the  act  of  Congress  under  which  the  land  grant  was 
made,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  the  college  is  placed.  If 
the  college  had  no  floating  debt,  as  a  matter  of  course  the  appropriation 
for  interest  and  the  appropriation  to  the  sinking  fund  would  disappear 
entirely,  and  there  would  be  just  that  much  additional  funds  to  be  appro- 
priated to  the  legitimate  demands  of  the  college  and  the  experimental 
farms. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  practical  value  of  these  experimental 
farms  ? 

A.  The  Central  farm  at  the  college  has  pursued  a  careful  and  well-advised 
system  of  experiments  from  the  first,  and  the  results  of  these  experiments 
cannot  fail  to  be  beneficial  to  the  agriculturists  of  Pennsylvania  if  studied 
by  those  who  were  interested  in  its  agriculture ;  and  notwithstanding  all 
the  discouragements  and  all  the  failures  which  have  resulted  from  the 
Eastern  experimental  farm,  I  think  the  testimony  of  the  farmers  in  that 
neighborhood,  some  of  whom  gave  their  views  to  this  committee  under 
oath,  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Eastern  farm  has  been  of  more  value  to 
Chester  county  alone  than  all  the  money  which  has  been  expended  upon 
it ;  and,  that  for  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  that  the  farm  has  experi- 
mented with  and  distributed  to  that  community  different  kinds  of  seeds 
which  they  have  appropriated  and  received  value  from.  I  think  one  of 
the — my  recollection  is  that  one  of  the  gentlemen  said  to  this  committee, 
do  not  say  who  said  it  to  me,  I  heard  it  in  that  neighborhood — that  the 
introduction  of  seed  wheat  alone,  which  was  made  by  this  farm  in  that 
community,  has  more  than  paid  in  Chester  county  alone  for  all  the  money 
that  was  expended  upon  it. 

Q.  Could  not  that  same  result  be  reached  by  experiments  on  the  Central 
farm  ? 

A.  I  believe  so,  if  they  had  been  more  widely  known.  Then  there  is 
this  to  be  taken  into  account,  however,  that  the  variety  of  soil  and  the 
variety  in  means  of  farming  in  different  parts  of  Pennsylvania  are  such 
that  if  our  Legislature  could  rise  to  the  heights  of  the  argument,  and 
equip  and  maintain  our  Central  farm  and  the  Eastern  experimental  farm, 
I  really  believe  that  the  agriculturists  of  Pennsylvania  would  be  benefited 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  847 

twenty-fold  more  than  the  money  expended  in  such  equipment  and  main- 
tenance. Every  farmer  knows  that  nine  experiments  out  of  ten  in  the 
matter  of  seed  wheat  are  likely  to  be  failures.  I  know  I  find  it  so.  The 
department  send  me  wheat,  and  I  get  wheat  from  Canada  and  other  places, 
and  nine  out  of  ten  are  failures.  Now,  if  our  Legislature  would  pay  for 
those  failures,  and  our  farmers  learn  to  look  to  the  place  to  which  success 
as  well  as  failure  comes,  we  would  be  benefiting  the  entire  agricultural 
class,  and  would  be  saving  for  farmers  the  cost  of  failures,  except  the 
farmer  whom  the  State  paid  for  his  failure.  But  in  order  to  do  that,  and 
to  carry  on  scientific  experiments,  as  well  as  those  which  are  more  practical 
in  their  scope,  we  must  understand  and  appreciate  the  fact  that  such  things 
cannot  be  done  without  the  expenditure  of  money.  New  Jersey,  Connecti- 
cut, and  New  York,  and  other  States  much  less  favored,  agriculturally, 
than  Pennsylvania,  have  maintained  scientific  experimental  stations,  cost- 
ing from  15,000  to  $15,000  annually,  and  in  the  little  States  of  Connecticut 
and  New  Jersey  they  find  that  such  an  expenditure  pays,  and  pays  largely; 
and,  if  that  be  true,  I  cannot  understand  whj'  Pennsylvania  cannot  profit- 
ably maintain  the  two  farms  which  I  have  referred  to — the  one  at  the 
college  and  the  other  at  West  Grove,  or,  what  would  be  better,  at  some 
point  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  more  accessible  than  the  present 
farm.  The  property  at  Indiana  is  one  of  considerable  value.  The  object, 
as  I  understand  it,  although  I  was  not  in  the  board  when  it  was  purchased, 
was  to  experiment  in  under-draining  on  part  of  the  farm.  Part  of  the  farm 
has  a  very  pretty  exposure — south-eastern — but  part  of  the  farm  is  swampy 
and  boggy,  and,  in  order  to  be  made  productive,  will  require  a  systematic 
and  expensive  under-draining.  This  the  college  has  never  had  the  means 
of  even  undertaking,  and,  in  the  absence  of  it,  it  seemed  to  be  folly  to 
endeavor  to  carry  out  the  system  of  experiments  prescribed  for  the  other 
farms.  The  property  is  in  the  borough  of  West  Indiana.  The  town  is 
encroaching  upon  it,  and  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  valuable,  so  that  I 
have  no  doubt  that  it  can  be  sold  so  as  to  prevent  loss,  and,  perhaps,  realize 
more  than  was  originally  expended  in  its  purchase. 

Q.  Then,  with  the  present  revenue  of  the  college,  you  have  no  sugges- 
tions to  make  by  which  the  institution  could  be  made  more  efficient  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  I  believe  the  board  of  trustees  give  to  the  experimental 
farms  all  the  money  that  they  can  afford  to  appropriate  to  that  object. 

Q.  I  was  referring  to  the  entire  institution. 

A.  I  was  going  to  say  they  employ  more  professors  for  the  amount  of 
money  expended  than  an}'  other  institution  of  which  I  have  knowledge, 
employing  professors  of  the  same  class  and  of  equal  scientific  attainments. 

Q.  IIow  does  the  curriculum  of  the  college  compare  with  that  of  others  ? 

A.  Better  than  many  others — better  in  its  scientific  aspect  than  any  col- 
lege in  the  State  that  I  know  of.  Its  classical  course  is  not  perhaps  quite 
up  to  some  others,  particularly  those  colleges  of  a  particular  religious 
basis,  and  are  working  especially  for  the  education  of  their  young  men  for 
the  ministry.  The  only  complaint  that  I  have  ever  heard  in  the  college  as 
of  a  directly  opposite  character  to  the  classical  student  having  maintained 
that  in  the  distribution  of  honors,  it  is  easier  for  students  in  the  agricultural 
course  to  reach  a  higher  grade  than  in  the  classical  course,  and  tliat,  there- 
fore, the  agricultural  student  often  carried  off  the  honors  when  their  scholar- 
ship was  not  as  high  as  that  of  students  in  the  classical  course.  I  re- 
member when  Manh'  took  the  first  honors,  several  j'ears  ago,  a  young  man 
from  Richmond  graduated  there  in  the  agricultural  course  and  took  the 
first  honors,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  complaint  that  he  was  not  as 
high  in  scholarship  as  those  in  the  classical  course  ;  and  yet  when  he  gradu- 


348  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

"ted  his  average  had  averaged  higher  than  any  other  student,  and  he  took 
the  honors. 

Q.  Are  students  who  desire  to  make  agriculture  their  pursuit  in  life 
afforded  proper  facilities  for  learning  ? 

A.  Undoubtedly.  I  think  no  other  institution  makes  more  honest  efforts 
in  that  direction  and  meets  with  better  success.  Professor  Jordan  1  con- 
sider admirably  qualified  to  fill  the  office.  He  is  a  thoroughly  practical 
farmer,  and  gives  directions  of  the  practical  management  to  the  student 
upon  the  farm ;  and  the  instruction  is  further  supplemented  by  instruc- 
tions by  Professor  Buckhout  in  horticulture. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  Are  students  taking  the  agricultural  course  there — do  they  do  prac- 
tical work  upon  the  farm  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  as  they  are  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  different  parts  of 
the  farm  that  come  in  the  class-room  ;  for  instance,  of  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil,  their  practicum  relates  to  that.  If  on  the  cultivation  of  trees,  in 
horticulture,  their  lesson  is  on  the  campus,  under  the  direction  of  the  pro- 
fessor, or  in  the  vineyard  and  flower  garden,  used  for  the  purpose  of  illus- 
tration and  practical  instruction. 

Q.  Are  students  desiring  to  make  mechanic  arts  a  pursuit  in  life  offered 
proper  facilities  ? 

A.  In  the  department  of  physics,  and  especially  in  the  department  of 
mechanics,  the  practicums  is  carried  out  with  each  student.  They  had  a 
kit  of  tools  in  the  work-shops.  If  you  ask  for,  you  will  find  a  case  of 
work  done  by  students  who  had  but  a  single  term's  instructions  in  the 
manipulation  of  the  tools,  and  the  degree  of  proficiency  was  simply  won- 
derful. 

Q.  I  believe  you  have  stated  that  a  defect  lay  in  the. equipment  of  the 
mechanical  department  of  the  college  ? 

A.  We  lack  the  building  to  make  the  mechanical  department  complete, 
steam  power  to  turn  lathes,  and  everything  of  that  kind  necessary  for 
turning  purposes.  There  ought  to  be  a  foundry  for  making  small  castings, 
and  a  machine  shop  for  working  in  iron  as  well  as  wood.  Our  shops  only 
relate  to  wood  work.  We  have  no  turning  lathes  or  anything  of  that 
kind. 

Q.  What  sum  would  be  necessary  to  maintain  the  Pennsylvania  State  Col- 
lege as  you  think  this  one  should  be  ? 

A.  If  the  State  would  furnish  the  building,  which  of  course  she  is  bound 
to  do,  for  no  part  of  this  fund  can  be  taken  for  building  purposes,  if  the 
State  would  build  these  shops,  I  think  the  manufacturers  of  Pennsylvania 
would  equip  them  if  a  proper  effort  was  made.  I  believe  that  |3ii,000 
would  equip  the  college,  and  would  do  the  work  which  is  necessary  to  be 
done  if  the  experimental  farms  were  provided  for.  It  is  claimed  that 
ground  on  which  the  trustees  started  originally,  and  it  is  claimed  ever 
since,  that  the  experimental  farms  were  intended  to  educate  the  people, 
and  the  college  the  students,  although  they  do  not  educate  the  people,  and 
that,  therefore,  this  expenditure  was  not  appropriate  under  the  circum- 
stances ;  and  while,  of  course,  I  do  not  feel  like  pressing  my  individual 
views,  because  I  found  the  system  established  when  I  came  into  the  board, 
and  we  maintain  them  with  less  expenditure  of  money  since  that  time. 

Adjourned,  to  meet  at  two  o'cock,  p.  m. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  349 

Met  at  two  o'clock,  p.  m. 

Genabal  James  A.  Beaver  recalled — examination  continued : 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  State,  if  you  please,  if  you  know  Joseph  Shortlidge,  and  what  your 
connection  with  him  was  as  a  member  of  the  faculty,  as  to  his  subsequent 
conduct  at  the  college,  and  why  he  came  to  leave,  and  what  his  trouble  was 
with  the  students  and  faculty. 

A.  I  am  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  President  Shortlidge.  He  came 
to  the  college  in  the  way  that  was  indicated  by  Judge  Orvis  in  his  testi- 
mon}^,  although  there  was  rather  more  correspondence  than  J  udge  Orvis 
had  knowledge  of.  After  receiving  the  application  of  Professor  Short- 
lidge and  recommendations  which  he  furnished,  I  corresponded  with  Sen- 
ator Cooper,  of  Delaware  county,  informing  him  that  in  my  judgment  Pro- 
fessor Shortlidge  did  not  fill  the  requirements  of  the  place,  and  tried  t& 
show  him  what  the  requirements  were.  That  we  wanted  a  man  of  public 
address,  scientific  and  business  experience,  and  a  man  who  was  firm  in  his 
convictions  and  who  would  attract  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  young 
men,  and  gave  him  a  general  outline  already  understood  of  what  would  be 
the  requirements  of  a  man  to  fill  the  place.  I  had  a  reply  from  him,  in 
which  he  said  Professor  Shortlidge  was  just  the  one  to  fill  those  require- 
ments. His  own  letter  was  rather  a  peculiar  one,  and  we  were  not  satis- 
fled.  I  suggested  the  meeting,  as  Judge  Orvis  intimated,  and  we  went  to 
Philadelphia  to  see  him.  There  were  some  things  in  the  interview  that 
were  not  satisfactory.  At  the  time  we  considered  that  his  locality  was  a 
desirable  one,  as  more  or  less  antagonism  had  existed  against  the  college 
in  that  region,  and  that  his  election  would  no  doubt  tend  to  allay  that  prej- 
udice and  to  give  the  college  the  confidence  of  that  community  ;  but,  to  our 
surprise,  his  election,  instead  of  allaying  the  dissatisfaction,  increased  it,  and 
we  were  told  that  his  selection  confirmed  the  incapacity  of  the  trustees  be- 
cause he  would  not  suit  at  all ;  however,  as  Judge  Orvis  has  told  you,  he  had 
the  confidence  and  the  cooperation  of  the  board  of  trustees  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent. I  was  not  present  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  in  consequence 
of  my  mother's  illness  and  death,  and  it  is  only  meetings  of  the  board 
since  I  have  been  a  member  that  I  have  not  attended. 

The  entire  board,  however,  were  unanimous  I,  know,  in  their  intentions 
and  desire  to  support  President  Shortlidge  in  his  official  situation,  with  all 
the  power  they  had,  and  in  order  to  give  President  Shortlidge  full  authority 
in  the  faculty,  everything  connected  with  the  college,  the  resolution  which 
you  have  heard  of  as  passed  dt  that  time  was  framed  and  passed.  I  had 
some  experience,  growing  out  of  some  previous  difficulty,  which  led  to  Dr. 
Calder's  leaving  the  college,  and  I  determined  that  I  would  not  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  anybody  outside  of  Professor  Shortlidge  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  institution.  I  made  that  determination  known  to  some  of  the 
professors,  that  1  would  not  listen  to  any  complaint,  and  hold  no  com- 
munication except  through  the  president  of  the  college.  That  determina- 
tion was  made  known  pretty  emphatically  to  the  professors,  and  I  had  no 
trouble  afterwards  until  things  reached  the  climax,  and  that  climax  was 
reached  when  I  was  away  from  home.  I  was  in  camp  at  the  time,  at 
station,  where  I  got  a  number  of  telegrams  from  students,  imploring  me  to 
come  to  the  college,  and  that  a  rebellion  had  arisen,  and  everybody  was 
going  to  leave.  I  simply  paid  no  attention  to  it.  It  was  a  question  for 
the  feculty,  and  I  thought  they  might  just  as  well  deal  with  it,  and  use 
there  own  resources  while  I  was  in  camp.  When  I  came  home  I  received 
a  long  communication  from  one  or  more  members  of  the  faculty,  and 


350  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

giving  an  account  of  it,  and  pledging  a  personal  guarantee  to  the  students 
that  they  would  have  fair  play,  and  for  them,  and  after  my  return  home, 
in  companj'  with  Judge  Orvis,  I  went  up  to  the  regular  meeting  of  the 
executive  committee,  and  there  learned  what  the  difficulty  was.  It  arose 
out  of  what  the  boys  considered  very  unmanly  and  ill-tempered  exhibition 
of  feeling,  on  the  part  of  the  president.  He  threatened  them  with  the  use 
of  the  muscle,  and  did  it  in  a  very  ugly  way.  It  was  the  kind  of  treat- 
ment that  boys  in  a  boarding  school  might,  but  no  boy  in  a  college  would 
tolerate.  He  never  realized  the  difference  between  bojs  in  a  boarding 
school  and  boys  in  a  college. 

Q.  Treated  them  as  small  children,  I  suppose  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  but  young  man  who  were  his  equals,  some  in  muscle  and 
some  in  temper,  of  course  would  not  tolerate  that  sort  of  treatmant,  and 
naturally  they  would  rebel,  and  we  counseled  them  to  bear  and  forbear. 
The  effect  of  that  reballioa  on  President  Shortlidjfe  was  very  marked  ; 
instead  of  endeavoring  to  control  the  students  he  allowed  them  to  control 
him,  and  the  result  was  the  kind  of  discipline  that  Judge  Orvis  told  you 
of  yesterday,  the  worst  we  ever  had  in  the  college. 

In  regard  to  the  various  charges  made  against  me,  personally,  I  do  not 
want  to  take  up  the  time  further  than  to  say  this  in  justification  of  Mr. 
Shortlidge — he  is  a  man  of  very  peculiar  mind,  peculiar  constitution.  What 
Judge  Orvis  said  about  keeping  the  minutes  of  the  board  of  trustees,  m 
which  we  had  faithfully  transcribed  all  thut  was  done,  and  I  made  state- 
ments to  him  more  than  once,  and  inside  of  five  minutes  he  would  ask  me 
to  state  it  again,  and  I  have  had  him  take  it  down  in  writing  and  he  would 
fail  to  take  in  at  all  what  was  said  to  him,  and  I  had  to  fix  it  up  before  he 
got  the  hang  of  it.  I  would  not  like  to  say  he  willfully  misheeded,  and  yet 
all  that  he  has  said  might  be  explained  on  that  hypothesis.  In  reference  to 
the  proposition  of  the  local  committee  at  the  Eastern  experimental  farln,  I 
said  to  them  that  the  barn  needed  extensive  repairs  and  needed  new  spring- 
house,  and  the  house  also,  and  implements  must  be  purchased,  but  under  the 
provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  we  could  not  expend  any  of  our  income  in 
putting  up  any  buildings  or  repairing  old  ones,  and  the  fund  only  under 
the  control  of  the  trustees  that  is  not  subject  to  that  limitation  is  very 
small,  so  the  only  hope  is  to  go  to  the  Legislature.  Another  thing  I 
stated,  that  the  Western  needs  a  new  barn,  and  we  need  at  the  college  a 
new  grain-house,  and  we  will  ask  for  $5,0(10  on  each  farm,  and  my  opinion 
is  that  we  will  get  it  by  directly  cooperating.  The  undei'taking  was  that 
we  would  cooperate  in  endeavoring  to  secure  that  appropriation.  The  bill 
was  prepared  and  handed  to  Senator  Alexander. 

Q.  Shortlidge  says  that  you  said  it  was  simply  used  as  a  blinder ;  that 
the  money  was  for  the  college. 

A.  Of  course  nothing  of  that  sort  was  said  to  him.  What  I  may  have 
said  was,  I  will  introduce  the  bill  for  $L5,0<»0,  and  we  expect  to  get  the 
cooperation  of  the  Eastern  farm  and  they  will  get  $5,(i0i)  of  it.  It  did  not 
have  the  support  of  Chester  county,  we  saw  that  in  the  House  in  trying 
to  get  it  passed. 

I  did  dissuade  Professor  Shortlidge  from  going  down  to  endeavor  to  aid 
in  the  passage.  I  was  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  support  he  wotild 
give.  We  tried  to  keep  him  from  going  any  place.  I  knew  very  well  we 
would  get  no  assistance  to  the  bill  if  he  went  there. 

There  is  another  case  I  want  to  speak  of,  because  it  is  an  illustrative 
case.  A  young  man,  by  the  name  of  Hunter,  was  expelled  from  the 
college.  He  is  a  very  nice  young  fellow,  from  one  of  our  best  families,  a 
son  of  B.  F.  Hunter,  candidate  for  nomination  for  Legislature,  an  excellent 


Leg.  Doc.  ]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  361 

man  in  every  way.  He  came  to  my  office  and  told  me  he  was  expelled 
from  the  college,  and  1  asked  him  to  state  the  circumstances.  He  said  that 
in  chapel  some  noise  was  made,  with  which  he  was  charged  after  the  exer- 
cises were  over,  and  that  he  did  not  make  the  noise,  and  that  he  denied  it 
emphatically  ;  and  that  President  Shortlidge  was  inclined  to  take  his 
statement,  and  then  he  called  Miss  Shortlidge,  who  asserted  that  this  lad 
was  the  aggressor,  and  that  the  president  sent  him  home  for  a  week.  The 
young  man  appealed  to  the  faculty,  alleging  that  the  president  had  no 
right  to  do  that.  The  president  said  he  had  the  right ;  and,  for  appealing 
to  the  faculty,  he  expelled  him  unconditionally.  The  young  man  came  to 
me  and  made  his  statement,  and  said  that  he  was  not  conscious  of  having 
done  anything  of  the  kind ;  he  was  a  little  nervous  ;  he  might  have 
scratched  the  seat  with  his  foot.  In  my  boyhood  days  the  teacher  has 
struck  me  over  the  feet.  I  had  a  fashion  of  getting  one  leg  over  the  other 
and  shaking  my  foot. 

I  wrote  to  Professor  Shortlidge,  and  told  him  I  thought  he  had  been  a 
little  rash ;  the  charge  of  the  college  belonged  to  the  president  and  the 
faculty,  and  that  the  boy  ought  to  have  had  a  hearing,  at  least,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  faculty-.  I  heard  nothing  more  of  it  until  the  next  time  he 
came  to  town.  He  complained  very  much  of  my  interference,  and  then 
spoke  of  this  resolution  that  had  been  introduced  in  the  board  of  trustees 
and  passed.  I  told  him  that  was  all  right.  I  got  the  law,  and  read  to  him 
from  this  act  of  Assembly.  I  just  read  him  that  simple  provision;  and, 
when  the  boy  appealed  to  the  faculty,  that  he  had  a  right  to  be  heard.  My 
impression  is,  that  the  young  man  was  restored  to  his  place.  So  far  as  I 
can  recollect  now,  that  is  the  only  case  in  which  I  ever  interfered,  in  any 
way,  in  the  internal  management  of  the  college,  because  the  trustees  and 
executive  committee  were  anxious  to  avoid  it,  and  had  enough  to  do  to 
manage  its  business,  without  managing  all  the  affairs  of  the  institution.  I 
did  say  to  Professor  Shortlidge  once,  in  my  office,  I  could  not  allow  a  man 
io  speak  to  me  as  he  did. 

Q.  You  did  not  threaten  to  kick  him  out  ? 

A.  No ;  I  ma^^  have  been  tempted  to  do  so.  It  arose  from  his  entire 
misapprehending  what  had  been  said  to  him.  That  is  one  of  his  peculiar- 
ities that  I  noticed,  and  what  a  good  many  other  people  noticed  in  the 
community.  I  ma^'  say  further,  in  relation  to  his  leaving,  that  the  com- 
mittee sent  to  investigate  the  college  was  appointed  at  his  instance,  I 
believe,  or,  at  least,  it  was  appointed  after  he  had  made  certain  complaints 
to  the  board  of  trustees.  I  think  Mr.  Gordon  offered  the  resolution  cover- 
ing certain  points  opened  for  investigation.  Judge  Orvis  told  you  what 
became  of  that  resolution.  I  was  not  a  member  of  the  committee.  The 
board  met  immediately  after  the  committee  sat  to  hear  their  report.  I 
had  been  in  part  responsible  for  bringing  Professor  Shortlidge  there,  and 
when  we  heard  the  report  of  that  committee,  I  saw  what  was  inevitable, 
and  tried  to  break  his  fall  as  much  as  possible.  I  don't  remember  whether 
it  was  contained  in  the  report  of  the  committee,  or  whether  their  report 
led  me  to  speak  of  it,  but,  of  course.  President  Shortlidge  should  have  had 
the  usual  three  months'  notice.  I  took  an  interest  in  breaking  his  fall,  and 
went  to  him  and  to  his  cousin.  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge,  a  lady  of  very  con- 
siderable ability.  I  do  not  think  that  I  made  much  impression  upon  the 
president;  I  did,  though,  on  her,  and  she  saw  the  common  sense  of  the 
proposition.  I  stated,  in  substance, this  to  him  and  to  her  also,  the  report 
of  this  committee  is  going  to  read,  if  I  mistake  not,  to  inform  the  presi- 
dent that  his  connection  with  the  college  will  cease  at  the  end  of  three 
months.     Now,  that  can  be  avoided  by  simply  waiving  your  right  to  three 


352  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

months'  notice,  and  you  can  retire  with  honor — at  least,  without  dishonor. 
I  went  back  to  the  meeting  of  the  board,  and  President  Shortlidge  ap- 
peared, and  alter  making  some  inquiries,  pulled  out  of  his  pocket  and  read 
something  like  this  :  "  Whereas,  justice  has  not  been  done  me  by  the  board 
of  trustees,  I  hereby  resign  my  office  as  president  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College."  Finally,  some  member  of  the  board  moved  to  accept  the 
resignation.  One  of  the  members  was  out,  and  when  he  came  back  it  was 
read  a  second  time.  He  saw  nobody  said  a  word  upon  the  subject,  imme- 
diately made  a  motion  that  the  resignation  be  accepted  to  take  effect  forth- 
with, and  the  treasurer  be  directed  to  pay  three  months'  salary,  which  he 
was  bound  to  pay  under  the  rule  which  required  three  months'  notice,  and 
the  rule  is  applicable  both  to  the  college  and  to  the  professors.  Without 
giving  three  months'  notice,  a  professor  cannot  leave  the  college  nor  the 
college  discharge  a  professor  without  giving  three  months'  notice.  That 
motion  passed  unanimously. 

His  charge  against  Professor  McKee,  Hamilton,  and  Smith,  are  entirely 
groundless.  So  far  as  I  know,  none  of  these  gentlemen  were  ever  candi- 
dates for  the  presidency.  Professor  McKee  made  this  remark  to  me  once 
in  view  of  something  that  I  said  to  him  that  had  been  mentioned  in  rela- 
tion  to  the  presidency  :  "  You  know  a  hundred  reasons  why  I  would  not 
answer  for  the  presidency  of  that  college,  and  if  you  know  a  hundred,  I 
know  a  thousand."  Whilst  I  could  not  name  a  hundred,  I  knew  one  why 
he  would  not — the  one  I  have  already  mentioned — he  did  not  like  to  appear 
before  the  public.  When  he  does,  he  meets  the  public  expectations.  He 
is  a  very  learned  man,  who  everybody  admires.  I  may  say  he  was  a  class- 
mate of  mine  at  college,  and  I  know  him  very  thoroughly.  I  do  not  know 
where  Shortlidge  got  his  information  in  regard  to  Professor  Smith  and 
my  family.  There  are  no  such  intentions." 
By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q,  He  may  have  gained  the  information  in  the  neighborhood  ? 

A.  T  have  no  doubt  that  he  heard  something  of  the  kind. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  What  have  you  to  say  in  regard  to  the  moral,  general  moral,  condi- 
tion of  the  institution,  as  you  have  been  acquainted  with  it  for  the  last 
twenty  3''ears  or  more,  as  compared  with  other  institutions — the  one,  for 
instance,  from  which  you  graduated  ? 

A.  I  think,  compared  with  my  college  experience,  the  manners  and 
morals  of  this  college  are  very  much  better  than  when  I  was  at  college. 
Dr.  Calder  was  a  man  who  was  very  sensitive,  and  could  not  brook  the  least 
disorder.  1  thought  he  was  over-sensitive.  While  he  was  there,  although 
there  was  perhaps  the  ordinary  outbreaks,  the  order  was  very  good.  I 
never  saw  a  body  of  boys  leave  a  room  as  they  left  all  the  public  exercises 
of  the  institution.  They  went  off  with  military  precision  commanded  by 
the  president.  Indeed,  the  thing  was  a  good  deal  like  machiner}^  The 
students  roomed  in  the  college,  and  of  course  there  would  be  the  usual 
amount  of  traveling  and  running  up  and  down  stairs  and  sometimes  heav- 
ing pillows  by  the  boys  in  the  hall,  but  it  was  generally  harmless  amuse- 
ment— nothing  degrading. 

Q.  What  have  you  to  say  as  to  the  use  of  liquors  and  tobacco  in  that 
college,  as  compared  with  other  institutions  with  which  3^ou  are  familiar  ? 

A.  The  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  is  very  much  less  than  in  anj^  institu- 
tion with  which  I  am  familiar.  I  suppose  the  boys  use  about  the  average 
amount  of  tobacco.  It  is  prohibited  in  the  halls  and  public  parts  of  the 
building,  and  I  think  on  the  grounds.  I  know  when  the  members  of  the 
board  of  trustees  would  be  out  under  the  trees  smoking  cigars  the  students 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  353 

would  point  to  them.     Of  course  they  got  some  enjoj'ment.     The}'  were 
allowed  to  use  tobacco  in  their  rooms  to  a  moderate  extent. 

I  did  not  read  Miss  Shortlidge's  testimonj-,  but  1  understand  she  has 
made  some  grave  charges,  against  some  of  the  young  men.  If  they  are 
true,  the}'  never  were  reported  to  the  executive  committee  or  trustees,  and 
I  do  not  know  of  having  ever  heard  of  them  except  in  this  connection. 

Q.  Did  Miss  Bell  Shortlidge  apply  to  the  board  of  trustees  to  be  consti- 
tuted a  member  of  the  faculty  ? 

A.  The  first  knowledge  I  ever  had  of  her  being  employed  was  the  report 
that  President  Shortlidge  had  employed  her.  There  was  no  application  to 
the  executive  committee,  nothing  said  to  anybody  that  I  know  of.  I  do 
not  know  whether  Judge  Orvis  was  acting  with  us  then,  or  whether  that 
was  the  time  that  he  was  off;  but  the  first  knowledge  I  had  of  it  was  the 
declaration  of  Professor  Shortlidge  to  me  in  my  office  that  he  had  employed 
Miss  Shortlidge  to  act  as  assistant  in  the  preparatory  department ;  the 
expression  was  professor  of  elocution  or  teacher.  The  question  came  up 
afterwards  as  to  whether  or  not  she  was  a  professor  in  the  college,  and  I 
think  it  was  decided  that  she  was  not..  Some  question  of  etiquette  arosa 
among  the  faculty  that  I  did  not  understand.  I  did  not  understand  what 
constituted  a  professor  and  what  an  assistant  professor,  but  it  was  decided 
that  she  was  not  a  professor,  and  therefore  not  entitled  to  vote  in  the  faculty 
meetings.  The  employment  was  considered  temporary-,  and  was  only  brief 
as  temporary. 

Q.  General,  is  it  not  customary  in  the  college  to  have  certain  teachers 
take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  faculty  meetings  ? 

A.  Xo,  sir  ;  I  believe  the  principal  of  the  preparatory  department  is  a 
member  of  the  faculty,  because  the  discipline  of  the  preparator}^  depart- 
ment seems  to  be  out  of  the  college  proper,  and  it  is  necessary  to  report 
to  the  college  what  is  done  in  that  department. 

Q.  You  have  a  lady  principal  there '{ 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  In  Yale  College  they  have  a  class  of  teachers  called  instructors. 

A.  That  is  about  the  position  Miss  Shortlidge  occupied,  and  assistants 
in  other  departments  occupied.  We  have  a  lady  principal,  who  is  charged 
with  the  management  of  the  young  ladies'  department.  She  is  a  member 
of  the  faculty  for  the  same  reason  that  the  principal  of  the  preparatory  de- 
partment is. 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  were  concerned  in  the  case  of  the  Commonwealth  vs.  Gotlieb 
Ilaag  ? 

A.  I  assisted  in  the  trial  of  that  case.  I  was  not  eraplo3'ed  by  anybody 
particularly-,  but  being  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college,  I 
was  anxious  that  Haag  should  be  convicted.  The  principal  part  I  took 
was  in  the  examination  of  the  witnesses.  I  simply  wanted  to  bring  out 
the  facts.  I  made  challenges,  if  I  knew  a  person  was  improper  to  be  on 
the  jur}'.  Of  course,  I  made  the  usual  complaint  after  consulting  my 
client.  'My  impression  is  that  Mr.  Fortnej'  was  district  attornej-,  and  that 
he  had  charge  of  the  details  as  the  i*epresentative  of  the  Commonwealth. 
I  did  not  care  to  discharge  any  of  the  duties  that  properly  belonged  to 
him.  I  assisted  in  the  examination  of  the  witnesses,  and  left  the  argument 
to  him.  It  was  alleged  on  the  part  of  the  defense  that  the  boj's  took  the 
beer  without  the  knowledge  of  Haag.  It  was  alleged ,  I  knew,  by  my  brother 
Alexander  that  it  was  taken  without  the  knowledge  of  Haag,  and  handed 
23— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


354  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

back  to  the  boys.     The  verdict  was  just  such  a  mishap  as  might  happen  to 
anybody. 

Q.  Leonard  Rhone  is,  I  believe,  a  member  of  the  executive  committee. 

A.  He  is,  sir. 

Q.  What  official  position  does  he  occupy  in  connection  with  the  farming 
interests  of  this  county  ? 

A.  I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  it,  but  I  am  informed  that  he  is 
master  of  the  State  Grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry. 

Q.  Please  state  how  he  differs  with  you  in  the  management  of  the  col- 
lege. 

A.  He  differs  in  this,  that  he  desires  to  make  the  agricultural  part  of 
the  institution  better  at  the  expense  of  the  other  part  that  we  think  abso- 
lutely essential  in  order  to  fully  carry  out  the  act  of  Congress.  Mr. 
Rhone's  equipment  of  the  agricultural  department  of  the  college  would 
take  every  dollar  that  we  now  have.  His  idea  is  a  valuable  one  in  re- 
gard to  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs,  and  everything  of  that  kind,  but 
it  would  turn  ths  farm  into  a  vast  stock-raising  establishment,  and  so 
far  as  we  are  able  to  do  that  I  would  be  very  glad  to  see  done.  I  never 
blamed  Mr.  Rhone  for  taking  that  stand.  What  was  said  to  Mr.  Rhone 
was  said  in  a  jocular  wa}'  and  rather  to  show  him  the  absurdity  of  what 
he  was  advocating. 

By  Mr.  Newm3er : 

Q.  Have  there  been  complaints  made  to  the  board  which  have  not  been 
investigated,  of  the  management  or  conduct  of  the  college  ? 

A.  Never  to  my  knowledge.  The  complaint  of  Professor  Shortlid^e  as 
to  the  conduct  of  some  of  the  professors,  led  to  the  introduction  of  the 
resolution  which  I  have  referred  to  ;  and  the  charges,  or  the  subjects,  to 
be  investigated  in  that  resolution  v,^ere  carefully  examined  by  the  commit- 
tee. I  think  they  examined  every  professor  and  teacher  in  the  college.  I 
do  not  know  whether  they  examined  the  students.  I  think  the}'  sent  in  a 
petition  to  be  examined.  I  think  they  concluded  not  to  examine  any  of 
them.  The  report  of  that  committee  to  the  board  of  trustees  was,  as  I  re- 
member, unanimous,  and  which  led  to  the  resignation  of  President  Short- 
lidge.  He  had  charged  a  number  of  the  professors  with,  I  think,  heresy 
against  him.  He  was  a  man  of  rather  suspicious  character.  I  will  say, 
in  justification  of  Professor  Shortlidge,  he  was  subject  to  fits  of  melan- 
choly, induced  by  the  death  of  his  wife.  She  had  died  a  year  or  two  ago, 
and  he  had  become  melancholy  and  was  hardly  responsible  for  what  he 
did.  It  was  a  serious  mistake,  employing  him,  and  Judge  Orvis  and  I  were 
responsible  for  it,  and  in  another  sense  we  were  not  responsible.  Had  not 
the  faculty  insisted  on  having  a  president  before  the  end  of  that  college 
year,  he  never  would  have  been  elected. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  What  is  the  salary  paid  to  the  president  of  the  faculty  ? 

A.  We  paid  Dr.  Calder  $2,200  at  one  time.  Then  we  deducted  fifteen 
per  cent,  from  that,  that  left  less  than  $2,00i}.  When  Professor  Shortlidge 
came,  we  offered  him  ^2,000,  and  told  him  that  if  he  demonstrated  his  fit- 
ness for  the  place,  we  could  promise  him  $2,500.  That  promise  was  made 
by  Judge  Orvis  and  myself. 

Q.  What  is  the  salary  paid  to  the  president  of  Lafayette  College? 

A.  I  do  not  know  what  Dr.  Cattell  gets.  1  think  Dr.  Mathew,  president 
of  Washington  and  Jefferson,  receives  $3,000.  Some  of  the  college  presi- 
dents get  ijlOjOuO. 

Q.  What  does  the  president  of  Cornell  get  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  355 

A.  I  do  not  know  what  President  White  gets.  He  is  to  a  large  extent 
independent  of  salary  ;  but,  I  suppose,  of  course,  he  is  well  paid. 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  endowment  fund  of  other  colleges 
of  this  kind;  for  instance,  Michigan  State  College  or  Illinois  Industrial 
University  ? 

A.  The  Michigan  agricultural  department  is  separate.  I  do  not  know 
what  the  endowment  to  the  college  is.  The  Illinois  Industrial  University' 
has  the  entire  land  grant  of  Illinois.  Cornell  University  has  a  very  large 
endowment.  They  expect  their  income  through  their  endowment  fund  to 
reach  $100,000  a  year.  That  is  what  they  are  aiming  at  now.  Ezra  Cor- 
nell agreed  to  pay  the  university  one  dollar  an  acre  for  its  land  grant.  The 
State  was  not  allowed  to  locate  their  land.  He  agreed  that  if  he  received 
from  the  sale  of  the  land  the  one  dollar  and  interest  upon  it,  that  the  uni- 
versity should  have  all  over  and  above  that  amount.  Of  course  that  makes 
their  endowment  simply  magnificent.  It  has  been  located  in  Mr.  Cornell's 
name.  I  think  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Pennsylvania  sold  for  us 
at  less  than  one  dollar  an  acre,  and  some  below  fifty-three  cents  per  acre. 

(^.  Why  was  that  ? 

A.  It  was  thrown  upon  the  market,  under  the  control  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  land  scrip  fund,  which  was  composed  of  the  Surveyor 
General,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth.  It  was  put  upon  the  market  at 
one  dollar,  when  the  market  was  glutted  from  other  States,  and  everybody 
tried  to  sell ;  of  course  the  supply  was  larger  than  the  demand.  The 
Legislature  was  responsible  for  delaying  the  sale;  and, therefore, the  State 
ought  to  bring  up  that  price  and  make  it,  at  least,  one  dollar  an  acre.  I 
want  to  mention  one  fact.  I  have  a  nephew  at  the  college  whom  I  have 
assisted  in  educating.  He  will  graduate  at  this  commencement.  He  has 
been  there  for  five  years,  with  the  exception  of  the  year  that  President 
Shortlidge  was  there.  He  dropped  out  a  year  in  order  to  develop  his 
muscle  a  little,  and  that  crowded  him  a  little  ;  with  the  exception  of  that 
year,  he  has  been  there  for  five  years.  Through  him,  of  course,  I  have 
been  pretty  well  acquainted,  from  a  student's  standpoint,  of  the  affairs  of 
the  college.  I  am  satisfied  that  he  goes  into  life  with  a  threefold  better 
equipment  for  discharging  the  practical  duties  of  life  than  I  had  when  I 
left  college.  He  is  two  years  older  than  I  was,  but  the  advantages  that  he 
has  had  enables  him  to  enter  life  with  that  much, in  his  favor. 

Q.  How  has  the  deportment  been  since  Shortlidge  left  ? 

A.  I  have  never  heard  a  complaint  from  a  professor  or  student,  and,  I 
may  say,  that  was  the  only  year  since  I  have  been  in  the  board. 

Q.  The  moral  tone  of  the  neighborhood  has  been  assailed  in  the  testi- 
mony of  Mr.  Shortlidge.  You  are  familiar  Avith  the  neighborhood  ;  please 
state  what  the  moral  tone  is. 

A.  I  consider  it  one  of  the  best  communities  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
community  is  composed  of  farmers  of  a  verj'  high  degree  of  intelligence. 

Q.  It  is  very  sparsely  settled  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
college  ? 

A.  The  farms  are  all  cleared,  but  you  don't  see  the  farm  houses. 

Q.  The  farms  are  very  large  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir, 

Cyrus  Gordon,  sworn  : 

By  Mr.  Newmyer : 
Q.  You  are  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  ? 
A.  Ye3,  sir,  I  am,  and  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  alumni. 


856  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  You  were  elected  by  the  alumni  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  under  the  amended  charter  of  the  college,  the  alumni 
elected  three  members  from  its  body  to  I'epresent  it  at  the  meetings  of  the 
board.     I  am  one  of  them.     I  graduated  at  the  college  in  1866. 

Q.  What  time  were  you  elected  a  member  of  the  board  ? 

A.  I  think  in  1876  or  18T7,  at  the  first  meeting  after  the  charter  was 
amended,  and  I  have  been  a  member  ever  since. 

Q.  I  presume  you  are  prepared  to  speak  of  the  educational  facilities 
offered  at  this  institution  ;  please  state,  in  a  brief  manner,  what  they  are. 

A.  There  have  been  many  changes  in  the  educational  department  since 
I  graduated.  Up  to  that  time  there  was  but  one  department  in  the  insti- 
tution, and  was  scientific.  Since  then,  the  agricultural  and  mechanical  de- 
partments have  been  added,  and  the  mechanic  art  department.  Of  course, 
I  can  speak  particularly  as  to  the  scientific  department.  I  have  been 
familiar  with  other  colleges  of  the  same  character.  After  I  graduated  I 
became  a  student  of  the  Michigan  University,  in  the  law  department.  I 
was  a  student  two  years  there.  While  I  was  not  connected,  of  course,  with 
the  scientific  or  any  other  department,  yet  I  took  a  great  deal  of  interest 
in  it.  I  think  the  scientific  course  of  the  State  College  compares  very 
favorably  with  the  course  there.  At  the  time  I  was  there,  that  course  was 
a  little  too  strict — a  little  too  exclusively  scientific — but  it  has  been  changed 
and,  I  think,  improved  since  in  that  respect.  They  did  not  teach  any  of 
the  languages  at  the  time  I  graduated  in  the  scientific  department,  now 
they  have  there. 

Q.  You  are  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Clearfield  county  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  after  I  graduated  up  here  at  the  college,  I  remained  for  a 
time  as  a  tutor  in  geology,  not,  of  course,  a  member  of  the  faculty. 

Q.  Since  your  connection  with  the  college,  as  a  member  of  the  board  of 
trustees,  what  interest  have  you  taken  in  its  direction,  and  what  has  been 
its  general  direction,  as  observed  by  you, ''  since  that  time?  " 

A.  I  think  there  have  been  a  great  many  improvements  made  there.  I 
think  the  college  is  in  a  fair  way  to  success  now.  The  courses  of  study 
are  much  better  than  they  were  before.  I  have  always  taken  a  great  in- 
terest in  the  college,  not  only  when  a  student  there,  but  after  I  graduated. 
I  returned  for  a  year  almost,  and,  since  I  have  been  a  trustee,  I  have  been 
taking  a  great  interest.  I  have  been  in  attendance  every  year  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  alumni.  I  think  an  old  student  takes  more  interest  than  any 
other  class  of  students ;  and,  of  course,  an  alumni  trustee  represents  the 
Alumni  Association,  and  that  association  takes  quite  a  great  deal  of  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  college.  They  respect  our  wishes  and  views,  and  we 
appear  there  on  their  behalf  before  the  trustees. 

Q.  Since  your  connection  with  the  college  board  of  trustees  have  j^ou 
ever  been  appointed  one  of  a  special  committee  to  investigate  any  differ- 
ences that  were  laid  before  the  trustees,  and,  if  so,  when  and  what  were 
they? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  I  have.  At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees,  in  January-, 
1881,  I  think  it  was — the  first  meeting  after  the  election  of  President 
Shortlidge — Mr.  Shortlidge  made  quite  a  number  of  complaints  against  the 
different  members  of  the  faculty,  and  especially  against  Professor  McKee  ; 
and,  from  all  we  could  learn,  the  affairs  pf  the  college  were  in  very  bad 
shape.     The  faculty  were  not  even  .    .  ;  and  I  prepared  the  reso- 

lution under  which  this  committee  was  appointed,  but  I  did  not  present  it. 
Mr.  Miles,  another  alumni  trustee,  presented  that  resolution,  and  moved  its 
adoption,  but  Mr.  Miles  was  not  appointed  a  member  of  the  committee. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  357 

The  resolution  I  don't  remember  now.  I  cannot  give  the  resolution.  You 
will  find  it  upon  the  minutes  of  the  board.  It  reiterated  the  difficulties 
there,  and  directed  the  appointment  of  the  committee  to  investigate  all  of 
the  affairs  of  the  college,  and  to  make  a  full  and  complete  report,  but  that 
in  their  report  they  were  required  to  inquire  into,  and  report  upon,  five  or 
six  special  subjects.  The^'  could  report  upon  everything,  but  were  bound 
to  report  upon  these  five  or  six  special  subjects.  One  of  these,  I  remember, 
was  as  to  whether  it  was  desirable  to  abolish  the  preparatory  department ; 
another,  the  classical  department,  or  what  changes  made  therein ;  another 
was  as  to  the  desirability  of  establishing  certain  technical  courses  or  me- 
chanic arts ;  another  provided  for  them  to  report  what  changes,  if  any, 
were  to  be  made  in  the  college  as  to  its  kinds  and  methods  of  work.  These 
were  all  set  out  at  length  in  the  resolution.  Some  time  after  that,  I  do 
not  remember  when,  in  the  spring  of  1881,  President  Shortlidge  sent  to 
me,  and,  as  I  understood,  to  all  the  members  of  that  committee,  a  copy  of 
this  resolution,  and  notified  us,  too,  that  a  certain  time  was  fixed  at  the 
college  for  the  committee  to  perform  its  duties.  As  soon  as  I  got  this 
copy  from  the  president  I  discovered  that  it  had  been  changed  in  a  very 
material  respect.  In  the  first  place,  the  order  of  those  five  or  six  things 
that  were  to  be  reported  upon  v/ere  changed,  and,  in  the  next  place,  a  new 
resolution  was  introduced,  or  a  new  sub-division  made. 

Q.  By  whom  was  that  done  ? 

A.  That  was — it  was  not  done  by  the  board  of  trustees,  the  changes  that 
were  made — the  one  that  was  added  was  there :  "  Has  there  been  any  in- 
subordination on  the  part  of  the  faculty  to  the  authority  of  the  president  ?  ". 
His  charge  was  against  Professor  McKee.  And  then  he  took  out  of  its 
place,  "  What  changes,  if  an}',  should  be  made  in  the  kinds  and  methods 
of  instruction  ?  "  which  would  make  that  resolution  appear  as  having 
changed  the  kind  and  method  of  work — was  pointed  at  those  who  had 
shown  insubordination  at  the  president's  authority.  Of  course  I  don't 
know  who  made  that  change.  The  president  said  he  did  it  himself.  It 
came  to  him,  of  course. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  What  reason  did  he  give  ? 

A.  He  did  not  give  any  satisfactory  reason.  He  said  he  thought  this 
matter  of  insubordination  of  Professor  McKee  against  the  president's  au- 
thority had  been  talked  of  there,  and  this  committee  was  appointed  to  in- 
vestigate all  the  affairs  of  the  college  and  he  thought  it  right  and  proper  for 
him  to  add  that  to  the  resolution.  I  asked  him  then  why  he  took  the  liberty 
to  change  the  order  of  these  matters  to  be  investigated ;  he  replied  to  that 
by  saying  he  thought  it  read  better  in  the  order  in  which  he  had  put  it  than 
that  it  was  in  the  original  resolution.  That  copy  that  the  president  sent 
out  was  not  signed,  of  course,  by  Mr.  Miles,  who  had  introduced  the  orig- 
inal resolution  passed  by  the  members  of  the  committee,  and  I  would  not 
suppose  that  any  member  of  the  committee  knew  exactly  what  was  in  it. 

Q.  In  pursuance  of  that  call,  you  met  at  the  college  ? 

A.  In  pursuance  of  that  notice,  the  committee,  which  was  composed  of 
.  .  .we  went  to  the  college  in  pursuance  of  the  appointment — 
notice  from  the  president — and  we  made  a  very  thorough  examination  of 
all  the  matters  appertaining  to  the  college.  We  not  only  devoted  all  the 
time  of  the  day  to  it,  but  generally  past  midnight,  for  not  less  than  three 
days. 

Q.  Bid  you  meet  in  open  session  ? 

A.  We  conducted  our  investigation  in  private.  We  called  each  member 
of  the  faculty,  commencing  with  Shortlidge.     We  thought  it  better  so,  and 


358  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

we  wanted  to  have  a  free  expression  on  the  part  of  every  one,  and  we  as- 
sured him  that  what  he  said  would  be  considered  confidential.  We  heard 
t!ie  president's  statement  of  what  he  had  to  say.  He  made  numerous  charges 
ag;ainst  the  members  of  the  faculty,  and  we  investigated  each  one,  and  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  committee  was  that  they  were  not  true.  We 
thought  at  the  time  that  our  course  was  the  very  best  we  could  have  pur- 
sued. Whenever  any  member  of  the  faculty  asked  as  to  who  made  any 
charge,  we  told  him  that  the  charge  was  made,  but  we  did  not  tell  him  who 
had  made  it,  and  gave  Mr.  Shortlidge  full  swing,  and  gave  him  the  opening 
and  the  closing,  called  him  at  the  beginning  of  the  investigation  and  called 
him  at  the  close.  We  did  not  think  it  proper  to  have  him  appear  when  we 
were  examining  the  other  members  of  the  faculty,  because  we  did  not  know 
whether  they  would  be  free  to  testify,  and  we  were  anxious  to  prevent  any 
personal  difficulty  right  before  the  committee.  That  committee  were  satis- 
fied with  what  they  did,  and  made  a  very  thorough  investigation.  I  would 
be  glad  to  have  the  committee  examine  the  report  that  we  made  to  the 
board  of  trustees. 

Q.  Will  you  furnish  that  to  me? 

A.  I  will  be  glad  to  furnish  you  the  resolution  that  I  referred  to  a  mo- 
ment ago ;  but  in  that  report  that  actually  does  not  exactly  represent  our 
views  in  this  respect.  We  were  anxious  to  avoid  any  difficulty  or  any 
change  in  the  faculty  at  that  time,  and  while  the  committee,  I  believe,  were 
unanimous  of  the  opinion  that  President  Shortlidge  was  not  the  right  kind 
of  a  man  for  the  position  of  president  of  that  college,  we  did  not  want  to 
be  compelled  to  give  him  notice  to  quit,  and  for  that  reason  Colonel  Pio- 
lette,  who  was  a  very  warm  friend  of  the  president's,  was  selected  b^^  the 
committee  to  go  and  see  him  and  explain  the  situation  to  him,  and  to  en- 
deavor to  have  him  waive  the  right  to  three  months'  notice  to  quit  us,  and 
we  directed  him  to  say  to  him,  and  report  to  the  committee.  There 
had  to  be  a  change.  Either  President  Shortlidge  would  have  to  leave 
there  or  a  majority  of  the  faculty  had  to  leave.  It  was  simply  out  of  the 
question  for  them  to  get  along  altogethc  r.  That  committee  did  not  go 
there  to  investigate  the  president  any  more  than  it  did  any  other  mem- 
ber of  the  facult}'.  Thej"  came  there  at  his  instance,  appointed  in  pur- 
suance of  what  he  had  said  at  Harrisburg,  and  he  had  actually  taken  the 
libert}'  of  changing  the  minutes.  When  we  got  there  we  discovered  he 
had  actually  cut  out  a  page  in  the  minute  book.  I  do  not  know  whether 
he  had  transcribed  the  original  and  then  cut  it  out,  or  not.  I  was  going 
to  say,  a  little  while  ago,  in  regard  to  the  report  of  the  committee,  that 
when  we  sent  Colonel  Piolette  over  to  see  Shortlidge  vv'e  directed  him  to 
say  to  him,  if  he  waived  the  three  months'  notice,  we  would  report  that  we 
did  not  deem  it  necessarj'  to  make  any  change  in  the  faculty  at  present  and 
report  the  same  to  the  trustees,  but  when  he  came  over  he  did  not  waive. 
He  refused  to  sign  the  waiver  that  General  Beaver  drew  up,  and  instead 
of  that  he  had  in  his  pocket  his  resignation,  written  out  in  advance,  not 
knowing  at  all  what  that  committee  would  report  when  he  came  over  thei'e. 
Piolette  asked  him  what  he  intended  to  do,  and  he  said  he  would  like  to 
hear  the  report  of  that  committee  first,  and  the  committee  directed  tlie 
secretary  to  read  the  report.  The  trustees  were  there  then  in  session,  and 
after  hearing  that  report  the  president  handed  in  his  resignation.  The 
acceptance  of  that  resignation  was,  as  General  Beaver  has  testified,  except 
in  this  respect,  the  resolution  as  first  passed  b}^  the  trustees  was  to  accept 
the  resignation  at  the  end  of  the  term.  He  was  apprised  of  that,  and 
then  went  away,  and  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  two  he  returned,  and  said 
that  his  resignation  was  to  take  effect  at  the  end  of  three  months,  which 


Leq.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  Colligb.  359 

was  eight  claj-s  longer  than  the  end  of  the  term,  and  he  wanted  his  pay  for 
the  extra  eight  days  ;  but  the  resolution  provided  for  his  being  paid  at  the 
end  of  the  term.  He  demanded  those  eight  days'  pay ;  and  they  passed  a 
resolution  giving  him  that  amount.  This  was  after  they  soaked  Colonel 
Piolette  in  Smith's  laboratory. 

Q.  That  3'ou  pronounce  unqualifiedly  untrue  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  so  far  as  I  could  see,  he  was  not  soaked  in  my  presence. 
Colonel  Piolette  was  working  and  acting  in  the  interest  of  Shortlidge,  and 
was  the  only  member  of  the  committee  who,  at  any  time,  thought  it 
advisable  to  continue  Shortlidge  as  president  of  the  college. 

Q.  From  your  acquaintance  of  this  and  other  colleges,  what  are  the  ad- 
vantages— educational  advantages — afforded  by  this  college,  as  compared 
with  others  of  like  character  ? 

A.  I  think,  so  far  as  the  scientific  and  agricultural  branches  are  con- 
cerned, they  compare  favorably  with  any  college  m  the  country'.  I  cannot 
say  what  the  classical  department  is ;  I  do  not  know  so  much  about  it. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  graduates  or  students  in  attendance  at  this 
college  follow  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  Well,  I  can't  give  you  the  percentage.  I  was  looking,  just  a  little 
while  ago,  at  the  catalogue  here,  and  I  find  that  the  most  of  them  are  en- 
gaged in  agriculture,  or  pursuits  of  that  character — scientific  pursuits. 

Q.  How  many  out  of  the  number? 

A.  I  do  not  know ;  I  have  not  counted  them  up ;  I  do  not  know  how 
many  there  are  following  farming.  There  is  just  this  about  it :  You  take 
the  patrons  of  that  school,  and,  after  a  young  man  has  an  education,  it 
takes  a  good  bit  of  capital  to  become  farmers  ;  and,  for  that  reason,  they 
are  not  farmers,  but  a  large  number  are  engaged  in  scientifi.c  pursuits. 
There  is  another  thing  j-ou  cannot  judge  that  college  by — the  number  of 
its  graduates.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  college  graduates  fewer  students  a  j'ear, 
compared  with  the  number  in  attendance,  than  any  other  institution  ;  but 
that  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  students  sent  there  cannot  take  the 
regular  thorough  course,  and  stay  for  a  year  or  two,  and  many  take  a  spe- 
cial course  to  fit  them  for  a  special  branch  of  work.  For  instance,  in  my 
class — I  entered  the  sophomore — there  were  fifty  in  the  class,  and  only 
eight  graduates  Now,  they  did  not  leave  because  they  did  not  like  the 
institution,  but  many  of  them  could  not  remain.  I  think  there  have  been 
a  great  many  causes  which  have  kept  that  institution  back.  I  think  they 
started  before  they  were  ready.  That  college  was  commenced  in  1859; 
the  building  was  only  one  third  completed  ;  and  one  cause  of  dissatis- 
faction, as  I  remember — only  those  recommended  in  county  agricultural 
societies  could  get  in  ;  the  ordinary  farmer's  son  had  no  place  there ;  only 
the  leading  men's  sons,  recommended  by  the  society  ;  and  it  got  verj^  full 
of  students  who  would  not  behave  at  home ;  and  the}'  did  not  represent 
the  farmers  of  the  State,  and  that  fact  got  them  down  upon  the  institution. 
They  said  it  was  not  intended  for  them,  and  the  farmers  became  i)rejudiced 
against  the  college. 

Q.  Can  yon  suggest  an}-  remedy  ? 

A.  There  is  thts  about  it :  the  authorities  of  the  ccllege  have  profited  by 
the  experience  of  the  past,  and  I  think  it  is  on  a  fair  way  now  to  do  good 
work.  I  think  the  great  need  is,  not  merely  education,  but  the  require- 
ment of  a  man  for  president  who  has  good  business  qualifications.  With 
the  exception  of  Dr.  Pugh,  I  do  not  think  we  ever  had  a  man  suited  to  act 
as  the  head  of  that  college.  I  do  not  mean  to  reflect  upon  those  who  fol- 
lowed him ;  they  have  been  men  of  culture  and  refinement ;  but  it  takes  a 
man  of  peculiar  characteristics  to  preside  over  that  institution.    Doctor 


360  RiPOKT  OF  THE  Committee.  [Xo.  18, 

Pugh  was  only  there  a  few  years  until  lie  died.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Doctor  Allen,  of  Girard  College,  but  it  did  not  suit  bim  at  all.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Professor  Frazier,  but  he  was  not  very  much  of  a  farmer, 
and  was  not  a  practical  man.  After  him  came  Doctor  Burrows.  I  do  not 
know  so  much  about  him.  He  was  succeeded  by  Doctor  Calder,  who  is  a 
man  of  educated  mind,  a  very  smart,  good  man  in  many  respects,  but  his 
tendenc}'  was  all  in  the  direction  of  the  classics.  I  consider  the  institu- 
tion received  an  injury  in  leading  away  from  its  legitimate  object  toward 
the  classics.  I  believe  the  cause  of  failure,  in  past  years,  so  far  as  the  ac- 
tion of  the  faculty  is  concerned,  is  that  they  have  not  kept  long  enough 
any  one  man  to  demonstrate  their  success.  I  believe  they  will  profit  now 
by  the  sad  experience  of  the  past,  and  avoid  the  expenses  and  injuries  to 
the  institution ;  and  I  also  believe  the  college  is  on  a  fair  wa^^  to  succeed, 

J.  C.  Harper,  sworn  : 

Q.  What  official  position  do  you  occupy  in  this  county? 

A.  I  am  clerk  of  the  quarter  sessions,  o^^er  and  terminer,  and  prothono- 
tary  of  court  of  common  pleas. 

Q.  Have  you  a  transcript  from  the  record  of  the  trial  of  the  Common- 
wealth against  Gotlieb  Hoag? 

A.  I  haven't  got  the  transcript.     I  haye  a  list  of  the  jurj'. 

Q.  Will  3'ou  please  give  the  list  of  them  ? 

A.  C.  C.  Taylor,  resides  Spring  township,  laborer  ;  Joseph  Murry,  Miles- 
burg  ;  William  R.  Henry,  blacksmith,  Potter  township ;  Elias  Lenebauch, 
Walker  township;  Daniel  Kain,  blacksmith.  Spring  township;  Nathan 
Korman,  I  think  farming,  Penn  township;  John  T.  Dunkle,  contractor, 
Howard,  is  now  deputy  and  brother  of  the  sheriff  of  the  county;  H.  B. 
Tate,  carpenter,  Spring  township ;  Joseph  Flory,  shoemaker.  Spring  town- 
ship ;  Alfred  H.  Kramer,  farmer.  Spring  township  ;  George  Hubler,  farmer. 
Miles  township ;  Sedenham  Krumrine,  farmer.  Miles  township. 

Q.  Any  person  on  that  jury  hostile  to  Hoag? 

A.  No. 

Q.  Any  person  a  bar-tender  ? 

A.  No  bar-tender  on  the  jury. 

Q.  Were  you  personally  acquainted  with  that  jury  ? 

A.  I  am  with  all  of  them  except,  perhaps,  Joseph  Murry.  I  know  very 
well  there  were  no  bar-tenders  or  hotel-keepers. 

D.  F.  FoRTNEY,  sworn  : 

By  Mr.  Alexander  : 

Q.  Will  you  state  what  official  position  you  occupied  in  this  count}'  in 
1880? 

A.  I  was  district  attorney'  from  the  first  Monday  of  January,  1878,  to  the 
first  Monday  of  January,  1881. 

Q.  State  if  you  remember  the  case  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsjl- 
vania  against  Gotlieb  Hoag  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  of  November  term.     It  was  No.  1,  November  term,  1880. 

Q.  What  was  it  ? 

A.  Prosecvition  against  Mr.  Hoag  for  violating  the  liquor  law,  Joseph 
Shortlidge,  president  of  the  State  College,  prosecutor. 

Q.  Did  you  prosecute  that  case — assist  in  the  trial  on  the  part  of  the 
Commonwealth  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  attended  to  all  the  preparation  of  the  case — that  is,  sum- 
moning of  the  witnesses,  drawing  of  the  indictment,  saw  that  the  proper 
return  was  made,  and  I  assisted  in  the  prosecution.     General  Beaver,  who 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  361 

■was,  I  understood,  counsel  for  the  college  at  the  time,  assisted  me  in  the 
trial.  He  assisted  in  the  examination  of  the  witnesses — took  turn  about 
at  it.  I  argued  the  case  before  the  jurj"^  after  the  testimony  was  all  in  on 
the  part  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Q.  Was  there  or  was  there  not  any  conspirac}^  between  the  prosecution 
and  defense  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  none  whatever  in  that  case,  and  never  was  in  that  or  any 
other  while  I  was  district  attorney.  The  case  was  just  as  well  tried  as  we 
always  try  cases  here  in  our  court.  It  appeared  from  the  testimony  there 
was  a  few  young  men  from  the  college  had  obtained  some  beer  from  Hoag, 
but  it  was  very  plain  from  the  evidence  that  they  had  rather  come  the 
giraffe  over  Gotlieb,  and  got  the  beer  without  his  knowledge,  and  it  was 
on  that  account  that  he  was  acquitted  and  the  prosecutor  made  to  pay  the 
costs.  I  will  state  also  that  if  the  president  had  taken  the  advice  of  the 
attorney  of  the  college,  as  vrell  as  the  district  attorney,  I  think  the  result 
would  have  been  entirely  different.  He  was  directed  to  bring  the  matter 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  constable  of  Spring  township,  placing  the  matter 
in  his  hands,  with  a  list  of  the  witnesses,  and  have  him  make  a  return,  and 
that  would  have  thrown  all  the  responsibility  off  a  private  prosecutor ;  but 
he  thought  he  knew  better,  and  insisted  having  it  done  his  way,  and  we 
made  him  prosecutor,  and  I  then  went  on  and  prosecuted  it,  and  gave  him 
liberty  to  bring  in  any  witnesses  that  he  might  on  the  case,  and  he  made 
himself  prosecutor,  and  with  just  the  result  that  I  have  stated. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer  : 

Q.  Are  you  the  present  district  attorney  ? 

A.  No,  sir  ;  not  now.     My  term  expired  about  a  month  after  this  case 
was  tried,  1st  of  January,  1881. 

Q.  During   your  experience  as  district  attorney,  have  any  complaints 
been  made  before  3'ou  relating  to  the  students  of  this  college  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Ever  appear  in  the  criminal  court  in  any  prosecution  ? 

A.  The  case  that  Shortlidge  was  prosecutor  in  was  the  only  one  in  three 
years  that  I  was  district  attorney.  No  students  were  in  court  at  all, 
whether  as  witnesses  or  anything  else.  I  will  state  here,  and  it  is  only  fair 
to  General  Beaver,  who  was  counsel  in  the  case,  that  these  young  men 
were  about  eight  miles  away  from  the  college.  They  started  to  a  Granger 
picnic,  and  hired  some  farmer  up  there  to  take  them — at  least  they  hired  a 
spring  wagon,  and  eight  or  ten  of  them  went  in  this  wagon  together.  They 
passed  Mr.  Hoag's,  leading  up  the  mountain  going  to  the  Granger  picnic, 
and  they  stopped  and  asked  him  for  beer,  and  he  said  to  them  any  person 
under  twenty-one  3'ears  of  age  should  not  have  anything  to  drink,  and 
some  of  them  slipped  the  beer  away  and  drank  it.  No  professor  of  the 
college  was  with  them.  They  were  doing  just  what  young  men  in  college 
would  do.  No  president,  trustee,  or  professor  was  responsible  for  it. 
By  General  Beaver : 

Q.  Do  you  remember  ever  having  seen  a  student  in  court  before  ? 

A.  It  was  the  only  one,  since  I  have  been  a  member  of  the  bar,  in  a 
scrape  of  that  kind. 

Q.  Have  you  found  them  in  any  scrape  of  any  kind  ? 

A.  No,  sir.     They  come  down  to  our  town  and  are  as  well  behaved  as 
any  class  of  young  men  as  you  will  find.     I  never  saw  a  student  stagger, 
for  they  never  come  here  and  get  tight.     I  don't  know  that  we  ever  had  a 
college  student  around  this  town  drunk. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Were  you  ever  a  student  at  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  ? 


362  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  You  never  had  any  connection,  officially  or  otherwise? 

A.  No,  sir ;  except  to  go  there,  as  I  frequently  have  for  the  last  ten  or 
twelve  3'ears,  during  commencement ;  go  up  with  friends  to  visit  it.  That 
is  all  the  connection  I  had  with  it. 

Q.  You  are  familiar  with  the  neighborhood  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  does  it  compare  in  point  of  morals  with  other  neighborhoods  ? 

A.  I  believe  it  is  just  as  good  as  any  neighborhood  found  in  this  county, 
and  any  other  where  in  the  State.  It  is  the  end  of  the  county,  and  within 
the  last  two  or  three  months,  for  many  years,  have  not  been  any  liquor  sold 
except  at  Hoag's  place.  It  is  eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  college.  It  is 
now  sold  within  five  miles  of  the  college,  I  believe.  They  are  a  good, 
sturdy,  honest,  intelligent  people  in  that  community. 

Q.  You  have  been  a  resident  of  this  county  all  your  life  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  and  until  I  went  away  to  school,  and  then  afterwards,  I 
came  to  town  here.  For  many  years  my  parents  and  family  lived  just 
across  from  the  college  two  and  one  half  to  three  miles,  and  from  that  I 
have  reason  to  know.  I  never  heard  that  community  complain  about  a 
student  committing  any  depredations  upon  them,  never  heard  it. 

Q.  Didn't  even  rob  orchards  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  but  that  didn't  count. 

Adjourned  to  Wednesday  morning,  at  the  call  of  the  chairman. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 
Secretary. 


State  College,  June  28, 1882. 
John  I.  Thompson,  affirmed: 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  are  a  graduate  of  this  institution  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  long  since  ? 

A.  I  graduated  in  1862,  twenty  years  ago,  second  class. 

Q.  You  are  a  resident  of  this  neighborhood  ? 

A.  I  am. 

Q.  Have  you  been  connected  with  the  institution  since  your  graduation  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  except  that  I  came  back  here  last  fall  to  study  chemistry; 
last  summer  as  a  student. 

Q.  What  has  been  your  occupation  since  you  graduated  ? 

A.  Well,  book-keeping  for  the  first  few  years,  and  engaged  in  banking 
in  1812,  and  manufacturing  business  in  1880  ;  since  that  time,  chemistry. 

Q.  Are  you  making  a  specialty  of  chemistry  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  my  idea  was  that,  but  I  have  been  anal3'zing  iron  and  lime- 
stone ;  my  intention  is  to  give  practical  study  to  analyses  of  iron  ore. 

Q.  We  have  heard  some  testimony  rather  derogatory  to  the  character  of 
this  institution  and  the  surrounding  country  ;  you  are  acquainted  enough 
to  tell  us  what  your  belief  is.  I  mean  by  the  institution,  the  college  and 
also  the  neighborhood  surrounding  it. 

A.  I  do  not  believe  the  college  could  be  better  situated  in  any  respect, 
except  as  to  access.  It  is  distant  from  the  railroad,  but  in  other  respects 
I  believe  the  location  could  not  be  improved.  It  is  a  healthy  place.  We 
have  good  water,  and  what  seems  to  me  a  great  point  is  there  are  no  liquor 


Lkg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  363 

saloons  within  miles  of  the  place.  There  is  no  place  in  the  township  that 
whiskey  can  be  bought,  that  I  know  of.  Xo  licensed  houses,  I  believe. 
Pine  Grove,  there  is,  I  understand,  is  a  house  there.  Bellefonte  is  the 
most  accessible  point  to  get  liquor.  I  prefer  to  send  a  son  here  to  any  insti- 
tution that  I  have  any  knowledge  of. 

Q.  1  ou  have  been  in  this  neighborhood  how  long  ? 

A.  All  m}'  life,  except  a  few  jears. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  heard  any  complaint  with  regard  to  the  moral  or, 
rather,  immoral  tendencies  of  the  people  ? 

A.  Xo,  sir ;  none  except  reports  in  the  newspapers.  Lately  I  have  heard 
of  boj's  going  on  sprees,  but  it  was  always  at  a  distance  from  the  college. 
I  have  no  knowledge  of  an}' thing  of  the  kind  here  in  this  immediate  neigh- 
borhood. 

Q.  As  a  graduate,  can  a'Ou  suggest  to  this  committee  any  plan  that 
would  prove  its  efficiency  in  an^'^  of  the  branches  or  studies  ? 

A.  X^o  ;  I  think  that  as  far  as  the  college  is  concerned,  at  present  it  seems 
to  me  to  be  doing  as  well  as  we  could  expect.  There  is  one  idea  that  was 
spoken  of  in  the  alumni  meeting  this  morning.  We  thought  it  better  that 
the  alumni  should  be  allowed  to  elect  a  greater  number  of  trustees,  that 
we  believed  we  took  a  greater  interest  in  the  college  than  some  of  the 
othei's ;  that  instead  of  having  three  trustees,  it  should  be  increased  to  five 
or  six ;  that  we  had  one  third  the  agricultural,  one  third  mechanical,  liter- 
ary one  third,  that  the  institution  would  then  be  better  fitted  for  doing  its 
work,  not  to  be  run  purely  agricjultural,  or  purely  scientific  or  literary  ;  we 
believed  it  better  to  combine  the  three.  As  to  the  morals  of  the  commu- 
nity, I  have  no  doubt  that  we  have  as  moral  a  community  as  any  other 
that  I  know  of,  probably  more  so,  on  account  of  having  no  licensed  houses 
in  our  midst  in  our  little  villages. 
By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  How  does  the  present  condition  of  the  college  compare  with  former 
periods  ? 

A.  I  have  felt  that  it  has  not  been  run  right,  but  I  think  that  the  college 
has  been  gaining  ground  in  our  own  vicinity. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Is  there  anything  further  3'ou  wish  to  state,  Mr.  Thompson  ? 

A.  Well,  I  have  always  believed  that  the  college  was  unfortunate  in  its 
selection  of  its  leading  officers,  especially  at  the  time  General  Frazier  was 
elected.  The  college  seemed  to  go  down  all  the  while,  for  the  simple  rea- 
son that  he  advised  the  students  to  go  away  to  college.  I  know  my  own 
brother  and  others  left,  because  he  advised  them  to  leave  ;  told  them  that 
the  course  was  not  such  as  would  fit  them  for  life,  and  that  caused  them  to 
go  to  other  colleges.  Dr.  Allen  was  president  at  the  time,  and  General 
Frazier  was  elected  president  when  he  left,  and  he  wrote  to  a  number  of 
those  who  had  left  to  come  back,  that  he  had  been  elected  president.  I 
know  that  none  came  back.  When  he  had  advised  the  students  to  go  away 
he  was  vice-president  of  the  institution. 

Q.  What  year  was  that  ? 

A.  I  don't  know  what  year  lie  was  president.  And  during  that  time 
and  ever  since  been  burdened  with  a  debt.  My  father  was  treasurer  of  the 
college  at  one  time,  and  I  know  that  they  were  burdened  with  a  heavy  debt 
that  took  so  much  to  pay  the  interest  that  the  college  did  not  get  much, 
and  the  people  supposed  they  were  getting  it  to  carry  on  the  school.  I 
want  to  state  in  regard  to  the  course  in  chemistry  :  I  have  been  to  several 
laboratories,  and  I  prefer  to  come  back  here  if  possible  next  winter  to  take 
another  course  in  chemistry. 


364  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Q.  You  spoke  of  other  laboratories  in  the  State  ? 

A.  In  the  State.     I  have  been  to  in  connection  with  the  iron  business. 
T  have  been  to  the  laboratory  at  Pennsylvania  furnace  and  at  Harrisburg, 
and  I  am  satisfied  we  are  better  fitted  up  her  for  teaching  analyses,  just 
what  I  wanted  to  learn. 
By  Mr.  Roberts : 

Q.  You  propose  to  take  a  post-graduate  course  here  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  did  not  take  a  course  of  chemistry  when  you  were  here  as  a 
student  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  studied  one  year  as  a  resident  graduate  under  Dr.  Cald- 
well or  Dr.  Pugh,  here  in  1862,  and  Dr.  Caldwell  in  1863,  and  remained 
here  one  year  when  I  graduated.     I  spent  the  time  then  in  analyzing  iron. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Does  this  college  afford  the  proper  facilities  for  teaching  the  branches 
which  appertain  to  the  science  of  agriculture  ? 

A.  Why,  I  think  it  does ;  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  given  as  much  at- 
tention to  it,  to  what  they  really  are  teaching.     I  have  no  means  of  know- 
ing.    While  I  was  here  I  was  in  the  laboratory.     I  know  nothing  particu- 
lar about  what  they  are  teaching,  but  what  I  learn  from  the  catalogue. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  You  think  they  were  prepared  to  give  the  education  if  required  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  I  think  since  they  have  so  much  less  interest  to  pay  that 
it  will  prove  to  be  a  success.  If  they  could  afford  to  pay  proper  salaries 
to  professors  they  could  secure  the  best  talent  and  hold  the  talent  they 
have.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  men  they  have  here  now  will  get  a  repu- 
tation, and  will  be  taken  away  if  the  salaries  keep  down.  Professor  Cald- 
well, who  was  professor  of  chemistr3^  received  a  situation  in  Cornell,  Pro- 
fessor Brenaman  the  same  place.  I  suppose  they  left  on  having  greater 
inducements  offered  them.  I  know  nothing  about  the  business  of  the 
college  from  any  conversation  with  any  professor  at  all. 

John  S.  Forster,  sworn : 

Q.  Where  do  you  reside,  Mr.  Forster  ? 

A.  I  live  at  Oak  Hall,  about  four  miles  from  this  place  ;  between  three 
and  four.  I  am  a  resident  of  the  township.  I  have  lived  there  twentj'-one 
years ;  about  twenty-one  years  last  spring. 

Q.  You  know  something  about  the  State  College,  I  suppose  ? 

A.  Well,  sir,  I  ought  to  be  acquainted ;  I  have  had  children  here  for  the 
last  ten  or  twelve  years,  some  one  of  the  family.  I  have  been  very  often 
at  their  lectures  and  other  business.  I  have  been  very  frequently  here  on 
business,  and  also  my  children  have  been  here. 

Q.  State,  if  you  know,  how  the  students  in  this  college  conduct  them- 
selves in  this  neighborhood. 

A.  As  far  as  I  know  always  been  good.  I  have  never  seen  anything  else 
since  I  have  been  here,  and  I  have  been  here  very  frequently.  I  cannot 
bring  to  my  recollection  a  single  instance  that  I  know  of  that  has  not  been 
of  good  intention,  and  the  character  of  all  is  as  good  as  any  other  school 
that  I  know  of,  or  ever  have  known  of  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  a  judge  of 
education,  but  so  far  as  I  know  the  character  is  good. 

Q.  How  about  the  behavior ;  do  they  behave  themselves  in  the  neighbor- 
hood? 

A.  So  far  as  I  know  of  now,  I  cannot  bring  to  mind  anything  that  was 
not  becoming,  but  that  all  students,  as  far  as  I  know  young  men,  will  some- 
times indulge  in  ;  for  instance,  in  social  plays. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  365 

Q.  The  general  report  of  the  students  has  been  good  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  so  far  as  I  know,  and  I  have  been  a  resident  here  twenty- 
one  3'ears. 

Q,  The  reputation  of  the  college  is  so  good  that  you  would  not  desire  to 
send  your  children  an3'where  else  ? 

A.  Xo,  sir ;  I  would  prefer  this  institution  as  any  one  I  know  of. 

R.  F.  Hunter,  sworn  : 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  When  did  you  first  become  connected,  as  a  student,  at  this  college  ? 

A.  I  do  not  exactly  know,  but  I  think  the  coming  November,  three  years 
ago — November,  1880. 

Q.  Were  3'ou  a  student  here  when  Joseph  Shortlidge  was  the  president  ? 

A.  I  was. 

Q.  Did  you  have  any  difficulty,  and  if  so,  what  ? 

A.  One  morning  he  was  speaking  to  students  in  the  chapel.  I  think  it 
was  about  hazing.  He  spoke  to  the  students  about  something,  and  after 
some  conversation,  in  which  he  spoke  about  a  noise,  and  called  attention  to 
it  several  times,  and  after^chapel  was  out  down  in  the  class-room.  The  presi- 
dent came  in  and  announced  to  me,  before  the  class,  that  I  was  to  take  my 
books  and  go  home ;  that  I  was  expelled.  I  was  surprised,  and  I  did  not 
think  I  heard  right  what  he  said,  and  I  came  right  along  and  asked  him 
out  in  the  hall  what  he  meant,  and  he  said  he  meant  enough  to  satisfy  me 
that  I  could  go  home.  At  first  I  asked 'several  times  if  the  expulsion  was 
b}'  action  of  the  facult}',  and  he. said  that  didn't  make  any  difference  to 
me,  and  told  me  that  as  far  as  I  was  concerned  I  had  conducted  myself  in 
an  unsatisfactory  manner  that  morning,  and  that  he  concluded  to  send  me 
home.  I  entreated  him  for  some  time  for  a  hearing  and  asked  who  his 
informant  was,  but  he  would  not  give  it,  and  after  some  excuse  I  got  him 
to  put  the  matter  off  till  he  would  see  his  informant,  and  see  whether  his 
informant  had  not  made  some  mistake ;  and  sometime  afterwards  he  came 
back,  and  said  he  was  confident  I  was  guilty  that  I  had  done  it.  He  said 
that  some  one  had  told  him,  but  he  would  not  tell  me. 

Q.  What  was  the  accusation  ? 

A.  Kicking  against  the  back  of  the  bench,  I  stayed  around^ for  a 
couple  of  da3's  for  him  to  get  over  his  rashness  and  let  me  have  a  hearing. 
Miss  Belle  Shortlidge  tried  to  stuff  me  ;  wanted  me  to  acknowledge  that  I 
did  it.  The  president,  in  the  hall  at  that  time,  told  me, ''  Well,  Hunter, 
the  best  thing  is  to  acknowledge  this  thing,  and  after  that  you  go  home  a 
week  and  come  back."  I  was  not  satisfied.  I  knew  that  I  had  not  got 
justice,  for  I  was  innocent.  But  the  next  da^'  I  thought  the  best  plan 
would  be — I  think  the  next  day,  I  won't  say  positively — to  tr^-^  and  get  a 
hearing  before  the  faculty.  I  wrote  to  Professor  Buckhout,  secretarj^  of 
the  faculty',  but  I  did  not  get  before  the  faculty.  He  told  me  to  go  home, 
and  further,  he  did  not  know  what  to  do,  and  he  thought  the  best  plan 
would  be  to  go  to  one  of  the  trustees.  I  went  to  Bellefonte,  and  went  to 
General  Beaver,  and  told  the  General  the  story,  and  told  him  that  I  was 
innocent  of  it,  and  he  wrote  a  letter  and  sealed  it,  and  gave  it  to  me  to 
give  to  the  professor.  I  think  this  was  on  Saturday.  I  went  back  on 
^londay,  and  gave  it  to  him.  When  I  came  back  and  went  to  Shortlidge 's 
house,  (father  and  myself,)  and  we  talked  awhile,  and  before  I  had  given 
the  letter  away,  I  understood  that  he  said  he  would  suspend  me  a  week 
more  for  going  to  General  Beaver.  We  talked  around,  and  father  under- 
stood it  the  same  way ;  and  he  said  that  would  not  do  to  be  too  fast  about 
it,  and  he  would  nor  stand  it ;  and  he  told  me  that  it  was  a  mistake ;  he 
said  that  he  told  me  that  he  would  suspend  me  a  week  longer  for  handing 


366  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

in  the  petition  to  the  faculty,  and  I  understood  him  to  say  he  would  sus- 
pend me  a  week  longer  for  going  to  (General  Beaver.     On  the  following 
Monday  he  made  me  a  student  in  full  standing. 
By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

Q.  What  were  your  relations  before  ? 

A.  Thej'  had  been  pleasant  before  that  time.  I  have  heard  that  Miss 
Belle  Shortlidge  has  given  a  bad  report. 

That  is  the  only  time  you  had  any  conflict  with  President  Shortlidge  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Professor  Gordon,  affirmed : 

By  Mr.  Newmyer : 

I  have  the  department  of  agriculture  and  agricultural  chemistry,  and 
have  control  of  the  college  farms  and  the  experimental  farms. 

Q.  For  what  length  of  time  have  you  been  engaged  at  the  college  ? 

A.  I  have  been  connected  with  the  college  since  January  1,  1881. 

Q.  Will  you  state,  from  your  own  observation,  what  practical  results 
have  been  a  benefit  to  the  people  and  what,  if  anything,  can  be  done  by  the 
Legislature  to  increase  those  results,  and  how  far  the  acts  of  Congress  and 
acts  of  Assembly  have  been  complied  with  in  the  management  of  this  con- 
cern? 

A.  You  ask  three  points. 

Q.  First  question,  the  management  of  the  concern,  within  your  observa- 
tion ;  how  far  the  management  has  been  productive  ? 

A.  As  to  the  management  of  the  college,  I  wish  to  ansAver  that  since  I 
have  been  here,  my  personal  knowledge  leads  me  to  believe  that  so  far  as 
the  intent  and  purpose  of  the  establishment  are  concerned,  as  an  institution, 
it  meets  the  requirements.  The  management  of  the  institution  has  been 
hampered  by  mistakes  of  the  past ;  but  so  far  as  the  education  of  young 
men  within  the  college,  and  the  management  of  the  farms  are  concerned, 
I  am  led  to  believe  that  the  resources  of  the  institution  have  been  con- 
scientiously used  ;  also,  allow  me  to  say  that  I  have  had  an  opportunity  to 
observe  the  mangement  of  three  other  institutions  of  this  kind,  and  as  an 
educational  institution,  I  believe  this  one,  in  the  management,  will  compare 
with  those  in  the  character  of  its  students  and  teachers.  The  management 
of  the  experimental  farms  cannot  be  made  successful  under  the  existing 
plan,  and  with  present  resources  ;  nor,  indeed,  under  the  existing  plan  can 
the  management  produce  good  results.  So  far,  the  institution  is  managed 
in  accordance  with  the  intent  of  the  act  of  Congress  and  Legislature,  I 
am  familiar  with  these  acts,  and  we  give  an  opportunity  to  study  the 
sciences  as  applied  to  agriculture,  to  engineering,  and  to  the  mechanical 
arts.  I  think  the  facilities  are  good,  and  we  invite  young  men,  and  we  lay 
the  institution  open  to  the  public  to  inspect  our  facilities  and  our  instruc- 
tion. 

Q.  Is  there  anything  you  could  suggest  by  which  to  educate  the  public 
up  to  the  resources  offered  by  this  institution  ? 

A.  I  think  the  information  given  to  this  committee  will  help  furnish  this 
information,  and  will  tend  to  make  the  college  more  popular,  and  gradually 
raise  it  in  public  opinion.  My  suggestion  is  this :  that  we  establish  an  ex- 
perimental station.  No  other  industrial  college  in  the  Union  has  at- 
tempted to  manage  more  than  one  farm.  They  have  failed  in  many  States  to 
manage  even  one  successfully.  This  institution  appropriates  as  much,  if 
not  more,  money  to  the  management  of  farms  than  any  other  industrial 
college,  and  the  reason  for  failure  is  obvious.  We  have  been  distributing 
the  money  over  all  this  amount  of  land. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  86T 

Q.  In  other  words,  you  think  it  better  to  do  one  thing  well  than  three 
half  done  ? 

A.  I  do,  sir. 

Q.  What,  from  your  knowledge  of  the  institution,  what  percentage  of 
the  farming  community  attend  here  as  students  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know.  There  are  proportionately  more  students  here  who 
come  from  the  business  and  professional  classes  than  come  from  the  agri- 
cultural classes. 

Q.  Is  there  any  reason  for  that  that  you  know  of  ? 

A.  I  think  there  is  a  lack  of  appreciation  of  thorough  education  on  the 
part  of  the  agricultural  class,  and  a  feeling  on  their  part  that  education 
has  no  practical  value  and  amounts  to  time  wasted.  I  have  had  an  ac- 
quaintance with  these  colleges  in  three  States,  both  as  a  student  and 
teacher,  and  I  have  found  exactly  the  same  feeling  outside  of  Penns3'lvania 
toward  the  industrial  colleges. 

Q.  What  do  they  seem  to  want  ? 

A.  The  opinion  is  that  it  is  a  manual  labor  school,  where  men  go  and 
work  most  of  the  time  and  do  not  study  much. 

Q.  Isn't  that  included  in  your  curriculum  here  ? 

A.  We  have  what  we  call  practicums  in  the  line  of  practical  work,  but 
we  clo  not  make  the  students  work  on  the  farm  simply  for  the  sake  of  mak- 
ing him  pick  rocks  or  shovel  manure.  We  simply  desire  to  get  the  student 
to  do  things  he  does  not  already  understand,  as  educational  work,  done 
under  good  instructors.  The  students  are  in  the  hands  of  skilled  in- 
structors. 

Q.  What  do  the  practicums  consist  of? 

A.  To  work  wood  in  various  ways ;  in  the  botanical  laboratory,  to  an- 
alyze plants  and  make  a  study  of  their  compositions  ;  in  the  chemical 
laboratory,  the  composition  of  such  things  as  he  finds  to  deal  with  when 
on  the  farm  ;  and  practicums  on  the  college  farm,  those  operations  that 
are  involved  in  skilled  labor,  and  which  the  student  ordinarily  has  not 
learned  upon  his  own  father's  farm. 

Q.  Do  the  students  learn  to  swing  the  scythe  and  cradle  oats  ? 

A.  Not  ordinarily,  sir  ;  he  learns  what  oats  are. 

Q.  The  harvesti^ig  of  it — he  knows  nothing  ? 

A.  He  knows  something  about  it  after  he  takes  the  agricultural  course. 

Q.  Is  that  included  in  the  practicura  ? 

A.  The  knowledge  of  it  is  included  in  the  practicums.  The  whole  of 
the  practical  duties  on  the  farm  cannot  be  included  in  the  system  of  prac- 
ticums. If  a  student  comes  here  entirely  ignorant  he  is  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  as  much  of  these  as  he  can  ;  but  we  regard  the  education 
of  the  mind  the  first  thing  to  secure. 

Q.  Then,  as  I  understand  you — I  want  to  be  correct  about  this  thing — 
nothing  of  practical  use  is  required  of  the  student,  nothing  that  is  practi- 
cal? 

A.  The  student  in  horticulture  is  taught  grafting,  the  student  of  agri- 
culture is  required  to  watch  the  process  of  ensilage,  for  example,  to  watch 
all  the  operations  and  report  to  me.  We  try  to  give  the  student  instruc- 
tion in  ever3^thing,  to  the  extent  that  we  can. 

Q.  Is  he  taught  to  distinguish  oats  from  wheat,  or  corn  from  potatoes  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  his  botanical  knowledge  gives  him  that ;  his  knowledge  of 
botany  would  teach  him  to  distinguish  all  agricultural  plants.  He  receives 
lectures  and  talks  on  the  cultivation  of  crops,  and  after  this  on  the  methods 
of  managing  every  crop  which  grows  on  the  farm ;  but  he  is  not  obliged  to 
go  and  plow  ten  consecutiA'e  days  in  order  to   learn  plowing.     We   do 


368  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

not  intend  to  give  him  anything  that  is  not  educational.     Whatever  is 
educational  he  gets. 

Q.  I  wish  you  would  be  kind  enough  to  give  the  instruction  that  the 
student  is  obliged  to  go  through  in  taking  the  agricultural  course  ? 

A.  For  the  lirst  two  years  in  the  agricultural  course,  the  student  studies 
mathematics  and  the  foundation  in  the  sciences  and  takes  modern  languages, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  junior  year,  the  student  enters  upon  that  line 
of  studies  which  embraces  technical  agricultural  topics.  I  give  the  stu- 
dents lectures  in  agricultural  chemistry  on  the  composition  of  manures, 
manufactured  and  animal ;  the  chemistry  of  those  processes  that  are  involv- 
ed in  all  agricultural  operations,  and  observations  on  the  methods  of  pro- 
ducing and  taking  care  of  all  manures.  Does  that  answer  your  ques- 
tion ? 

Q.  I  want  to  get  at  the  practical  work  that  the  student  does.  I  under- 
stand that  you  have  practicums  ? 

A.  Many  of  the  practicums  are  in  the  laboratories,  consisting  of  the 
analyses  of  the  various  product.  The  practicums  on  the  farms  may  not 
necessarily  involve  work  :  they  involve  the  student's  spending  so  much 
of  his  time  when  the  operations  are  performed,  as  to  report  to  me  in  an  in- 
telligent wa}^  what  was  done,  and  why  it  was  done,  and  how  it  was  done, 
but  not  necessarily  involving  work  upon  his  part. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  Suppose  the  Legislature  should  provide  for  the  establishing  of  this 
experimental  station  of  which  you  have  spoken,  what  means  would  you 
suggest  of  getting  the  results  of  your  experimental  station  thoroughly  be- 
fore the  agriculturists  of  the  State  ? 

A.  By  publishing  reports,  or  better,  bj^  bulletins  issued  by  the  station, 
as  is  the  case  with  other  States,  as  soon  as  the  results  are  reached. 

Q.  I  mean,  how  would  you  disseminate  these  published  reports  ;  to  what 
persons,  and  in  what  manner  ? 

A.  ^y  bulletins  issued  as  soon  as  the  results  are  reached  ;  and  those  to 
be  gathered  annually  into  the  annual  report,  which  should  be  distributed. 

Q.  Tn  what  manner  distributed  ? 

A.  My  own  idea  is  that  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and  State  Agricultural 
Society  should  have  some  interest  in  the  control  and  management  of  the 
experimental  station,  and  by  the  aid  of  these  organizations  this  distribu- 
tion should  be  carried  out. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Do  you  not  think  the  establishment  of  an  agricultural  paper  some- 
thing on  the  planof  the  American  Agriculturist  or  the  Farmers^  Journal, 
to  be  edited  right  here,  in  which  all  the  results  of  these  experiments  could 
be  given  to  the  public  at  large,  would  be  better  ? 

A.  I  think  it  would  be  a  desirable  thing  to  have  a  printing  press,  so  that 
there  could  be  issued,  at  stated  times,  a  paper  managed  by  the  faculty  and 
students,  wdiich  would  contain  such  material  as  the  faculty  and  students 
should  be  pleased  to  furnish  from  the  results  and  observations  of  their 
work.  Such  a  paper  is  now  published  by  the  Michigan  Agricultural  Col- 
lege. 

Harry  Mackey,  sworn : 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 
Q.  State  how  long  3^ou  have  been  a  student  in  this  institution. 
A.  I  think  it  is  about  two  months  over  a  year  since  I  came  here  first ; 
may  be  a  little  longer  than  that,  not  ver^'  much. 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  869 

By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  About  April,  1881  ? 

A.  I  think  I  came  here  during  the  winter  terra ;  came  sometime  in  the 
winter  term.     I  now  make  it  over  a  year. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  You  were  here  during  Mr.  Shortlidge's  presidency  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  have  any  difficulty  with  Mr.  Shortlidge  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Nor  any  members  of  the  faculty  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge  has  testified  that  on  one  occasion  a  student 
by  the  named  of  Mackey,  or  Mankey,  came  into  her  class-room  in  a  state 
of  intoxication.  Were  you  the  only  person  here  by  that  name  at  that 
time? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Any  recollection  of  that  occurrence  ? 

A.  It  is  not  true. 

Q.  She  states  further  that  you  were  addicted  to  the  use  of  tobacco, 
smoked  continually  for  two  days  without  eating  anything.  Have  you  any 
recollections  of  any  such  occurrence  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  have.  It  was  not  two  days.  I  do  not  think  it  was  more 
than  a  day. 

Q.  You  went  home  from  the  institution  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  for ;  on  account  of  being  unwell  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  that  sickness  induced  by  the  use  of  tobacco  ? 

A.  No,  sir;  it  was  not. 

Q.  Injustice  to  yourself,  I  would  like  to  have  your  explanation  of  that 
occurrence. 

A.  Sometime  before  I  came  here  to  this  college  I  worked  for  my  father 
in  a  furniture  factory.  We  had  to  lift  that  furniture  over  the  truck  and 
places  like  that  before  we  could  get  the  little  trucks  to  the  large  trucks  to 
unload  and  shift  across  the  track.  One  evening,  about  five  o'clock,  I  felt 
hungry,  and  sent  a  little  boy  over  home  to  get  me  something  to  eat.  Just 
as  he  struck  out  he  said  he  had  something  for  me,  and  I  wanted  to  get 
what  he  had  for  me.  I  started  to  go  around  the  side  of  the  truck,  and  there 
was  stuff  sticking  on  the  side  to  keep  the  furniture  from  falling  out.  I 
took  hold  of  these  sticks  as  T  went  along,  and  came  to  a  loose  stick,  and  it 
came  out,  and  I  lost  my  hold  and  came  down  a  distance  of  thirty  feet. 
That  time  my  brother  got  a  doctor  and  came  up  and  asked  what  it  was, 
and  told  me  to  come  back  tbe  next  day.  I  didn't  go  to  work.  I  walked 
around  a  little,  stayed  around  home,  and  the  next  day  I  went  to  work. 
Then  father  spoke  on  Sunday  evening  about  my  going  to  the  college,  or 
going  to  a  commercial  college  in  the  evening.  My  mother  had  died  just  a 
short  time  before  that,  and  I  had  not  been  away  from  home  very  much 
until  I  came  up  here ;  and  I  bad  this  in  my  mind,  and  this  thing  before 
was  what  caused  the  convulsion.  It  was  not  delirium  tremens.  When  I 
went  home  from  the  college,  father  came  in  and  said,  "  Have  you  been  sick, 
Harry  ?"  I  told  him  yes,  and  he  asked  what  was  the  matter,  and  I  sai'i  they 
called  it  a  convulsion  that  I  had  been  in.  None  of  the  family  knew  till  he 
asked  me.  The  doctor  examined  me,  and  went  down  my  back — run  some- 
thing down  my  back.  When  he  got  down  here  (indicating,)  I  told  him  he 
hurt  me.  He  never  said  it  came  from  the  use.  of  tobacco,  although  I  used 
24— Leg.  Doc.  No.  18. 


3T0  Report  of  the  Committke.  [No.  18, 

tobacco.  That  was  not  what  it  came  from  at  all.  That  is  all  I  can  say 
about  that. 

Q.  What  is  your  age  ? 

A.  My  age  is  seventeen  years. 

Q.  Have  you  been  elsewhere  to  school  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Never  been  to  any  other  school  but  this  one  ? 

A,  Yes,  sir ;  public  school  at  Williamsport. 

Q.  How  are  you  impressed  with  the  general  character  of  this  institution 
compared  to  schools  in  Williamsport  ? 

A.  I  don't  see  anything  wrong  with  it.  I  think  everything  goes  on  all 
right.  I  never  saw  anything  out  of  place.  I  suppose  there  may  have  been 
some.  I  don't  remember ;  good  many  things  going  on.  I  keep  in  very 
close.  Anything  found  out  I  would  get  accused,  and  then  nine  chances 
out  of  ten  I  would  get  expelled,  so  I  don't  get  to  see  what  is  going  on.  I 
play  ball  and  foot-ball  in  the  afternoon,  if  I  have  time. 

Q.  Any  serious  difficulty — any  immoral  tendencies  with  your  crowd  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  not  that  I  know  of. 

Q.  Miss  Bell  Shortlidge  further  says  little  boys  ten  or  twelve  years  of 
age  chew  and  smoke  pipes  in  the  halls.  Did  you  ever  see  anything  of  that 
kind  in  this  college  since  your  connection  with  it  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  did  not  know  that  we  have  students  here  that  were  twelve 
or  thirteen  years  old  that  used  tobacco  in  the  college.  I  am  certain  there 
are  none  thirteen  years  old.  May  be  in  around  the  college,  in  the  pre- 
paratorj'  department — that's  what  I  have  reference  to.  I  have  never  seen 
anybody  stagger  from  the  use  of  tobacco. 

John  W.  Stewart,  sworn  : 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  Are  you  connected  with  this  institution  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  never  went  to  school  here.  I  am  a  resident  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

Q.  Farming? 

A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  You  have  been  familiar  with  the  general  character  of  the  institution, 
students  and  professors — do  j^ou  know  of  any  immoral  conduct  of  the  pro- 
fessors or  students  ? 

A.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not.  I  have  lived  here  almost  seven  years,  and  I  can 
truthfully  say  I  never  saw  a  student  or  professor  drunk,  except  one  pro- 
fessor, whom  Mr.  Shortlidge  brought  here  as  his  music  teacher.  I  have  had 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  students  here.  I  was  in  the  hotel  for  three 
years,  and  a  great  many  of  them  boarded  with"  me.  I  kept  horses  to  hire, 
and  am  now  post-master  here,  and  have  a  store.  I  consider  them  very  nice 
gentlemen — nothing  immoral  about  them  at  all.  They  behave  as  well  as 
anybody  else,  if  you  treat  them  right.  There  is  nothing  bad,  vicious,  or 
immoral  about  them. 

Q.  Any  stimulants  sold  in  any  of  the  stores  ? 

A.  No  whiskey  sold  within — until  the  1st  of  April  there  was  no  whiskey 
sold  within  twelve  miles  of  this  place.     Since  then  there  has  been  a  house 
licensed  six  and  a  half  miles  from  here. 
By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  Where  were  3"ou  born  and  raised  ? 

A.  Right  in  this  county — born  in  this  township,  lived  here  and  had  con- 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  371 

nection  with  this  institution,  with  the  exception  of  three  years,  ever  since  it 
was  started. 

By  Mr,  Roberts : 

Q.  You  have  lived  here  since  the  institution  was  started — do  you  realize 
that  the  agriculturists  and  general  character  of  the  neighborhood  have  been 
improved  by  the  presence — by  its  being  here  ? 

A.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  whole  community  have  been  hurt  by  the  in- 
stitution being  here. 

Q.  The  system  of  agriculture  has  been  benefited,  has  it  ? 

A.  If  it  is  not  the  case  it  is  the  farmers'  own  fault.  But  I  must  say  that 
the  farmers  in  the  community  and  county  have  not  taken  that  chance  that 
was  given  them  for  improvement,  although  they  have  a  farmers'  institution 
right  here. 

Q.  You  think  that  there  is  an  improvement  ? 

A.  I  do ;  I  do  certainly. 

Q.  And  the  presence  of  the  institution  has  been  beneficial  to  the  neigh- 
borhood ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Foster,  recalled: 

I  have  been  living  here  twenty-one  years,  and  I  have  always  been  very 
much  interested  in  the  working  of  the  institution.  If  I  had  a  couple  of 
boys,  and  wanted  to  send  them  to  school,  I  would  send  them  here.  Some 
years — ten  or  fifteen  years — back  it  was  not  conducted  as  well  as  farmers 
would  wish  it.  We  thought  it  was  not  then  the  school  we  expected  to  find 
it ;  but  since  that  time  it  has  given  satisfaction,  and  went  on  improving 
since.  The  five  j-ears  since  I  have  taken  particular  notice  of.  For  five 
years  I  have  been  sending  my  children  here. 

W.  H.  Gray,  sworn : 

By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  State  whether  or  not  you  are  a  student  of  this  institution,  and  when 
you  became  connected  with  it. 

A.  I  am  a  member  of  the  coming  senior  class,  a  member  of  the  present 
junior  class.  I  came  here  in  September,  18T9,  and  have  been  a  student 
continuously  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  six  weeks  in  the  fore  part 
of  this  year. 

Q.  You  were  present,  then,  as  a  student  during  the  period  that  Joseph 
Shortlidge  and  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge  were  here  as  instructors  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir ;  with  the  exception  of  the  first  five  days  of  his  stay  here. 
I  came  in  five  daj's  late — that  is,  his  term  of  presidenc3^ 

Q.  I  see  that  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge,  in  her  testimony,  says  that  she  was 
an  instructor  in  elocution,  and  that  she  attended  the  meetings  of  the 
literary  societies,  and  taught  the  students  their  elocution.  State  in  what 
capacity  she  acted,  so  far  as  you  know. 

A.  I  believe  she  was  professor  of  elocution,  as  it  might  be  called,  in  the 
preparatory  department.  She  never  had  an}'  classes  in  the  college  depart- 
ment. She  heard  the  literary  public  performance,  but  for  society  perform- 
ance, never,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge.  I  am  connected  with  one 
literary  society,  and,  during  the  whole  of  her  stay  here,  she  never  heard 
the  exercises,  to  my  knowledge,  and,  I  will  also  say,  never  heard  them  in 
the  other  society. 


372  Report  of  the  Committee.  {Xo.  18, 

Professor  McKee,  sworn : 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

Q.  State  what  your  official  connection  has  been  with  this  college,  when 
it  began,  what  positions  you  have  occupied  and  occupy  now  ? 

A.  I  came  here  in  January,  1867,  as  a  professor  of  the  institution,  and 
have  been  such  since  that  day.  In  May  or  June  of  1868,  I  was  elected 
vice  president,  and  in  four  instances,  in  all  extending  to  this  time,  I  have 
been  acting  president.  The  last  has  been  for  about  fifteen  months ;  from 
the  8th  of  April,  1881,  I  have  been  acting  president  of  the  institution. 

Q.  Since  the  resignation  of  Professor  Shortlidge  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  I  have  seen  most  of  the  testimony  given  by  Professor 
Shortlidge  as  published  in  the  newspapers.  I  had  no  official  notice  that  I 
should  be  called.  I  have  a  few  slips  here  containing  portions  of  the  testi- 
mony of  Professor  Shortlidge,  taken  from  the  newspapers.  My  only  pur- 
pose in  the  matter  is  to  show  that  the  testimony  is  unreliable  in  all  the 
principal  facts.  In  the  matter  of  hazing,  which  was  brought  as  a  serious 
charge  against  the  students  of  the  institution,  the  only  ground  which  Mr. 
Shortlidge  ever  had  during  his  connection  with  the  institution  for  his  be- 
lief that  hazing  had  occurred  was  a  single  instance  reported  to  him  of 
something  offensive  (I  think  burning  paper,  but  I  do  not  know,)  placed  at 
the  door  of  a  student  who  was  an  unusually  worthless  member  of  the  com- 
munity. Whatever  the  offensive  thing  was,  it  was  removed  almost  imme- 
diately by  a  janitor.  Mr.  Shortlidge  subsequently  referred  to  this  act, 
and  the  students  asked  him  about  it  in  a  meeting  of  faculty  and  students, 
denying  that  there  was  hazing  ;  and  he  then  said  that  he  had  not  investi- 
gated the  case.  This  is  the  only  instance  of  hazing  which  he  ever  brought 
before  the  faculty  or  the  students  during  his  stay,  and  this  was  not  brought 
before  the  faculty  for  action.  The  statement  of  misbehavior  during  Sun- 
day service,  the  first  Sunday  after  he  came  here,  is  unfounded.  No  person, 
student  or  other  person,  was  ever  rebuked  by  him  for  disorder  during  pub- 
lic service.  He  affirms  that  he  arose  in  his  seat  during  service  and  said 
that  if  the  disturbance  was  continued  he  would  have  the  offender  ejected, 
as  he  knew  who  the  person  was.  No  such  rebuke  was  offered  during  our 
Sunday  service  during  the  eight  months  or  so  that  his  administration 
lasted.  lie  further  says  that  the  faculty  was  called  next  morning  and  the 
student  was  expelled.  All  the  members  of  the  faculty  will  disprove  that. 
My  recollection  is  positive  that  no  such  thing  occurred,  and  I  affirm  that 
during  the  entire  time  of  Mr.  Shortlidge's  stay  I  was  present  at  every  such 
service,  and  no  such  thing  occurred.  I  should  have  known,  if  such  a  thing 
occurred,  of  my  own  knowledge  ;  and  I  should  have  heard  of  it  had  I  not 
been  present,  but  I  was  present.  This,  then,  is  absolutely  false,  that  such 
disorder  occurred  during  Sunday  service  and  was  rebuked. 

He  states  that  one  time  that  he  was  in  trouble  be  went  to  my  house,  and 
that  Mrs.  McKee  advised  him  not  to  go  through  the  building  in  the  night- 
time, implying  that  he  might  suffer  personal  damage  from  the  students  if 
he  did  so.  The  statement  made  to  him  was,  that  he  ought  not  to  go  to 
seek  the  offender  in  the  building  carrying  a  light,  because  it  would  make 
known  to  the  guilty  students  that  he  was  there,  and  it  would  thus  defeat 
the  purpose  of  Professor  Shortlidge.  He  would  not  find  out  who  the 
offenders  were.  You  understand  that  secrecy  should  be  employed  in  find- 
ing out  who  the  offenders  were.  He  affirms  that  during  the  night,  (if  I 
read  right  the  statement,)  while  in  company  with  Mr.  Heston  and  himself, 
1  used  profane  and  abusive  language  toward  Mr.  Shortlidge.  This  state- 
ment is  without  foundation.  You  can  disprove  it  by  calling  Mr,  Heston, 
as  I  was  not,  for  one  moment  of  that  night,  with  Mr.  Shortlidge  when  Mr. 


Leg.  Doc.]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  3T3 

Heston  was  not  present.  He  aflSrms  that  I  abused  him  in  the  presence  of 
other  members  of  the  faculty  next  morning.  Both  these  and  all  other 
statements  of  my  abusing  him  are  absolutely  false.  All  of  these,  when 
specific,  can  be  disproved  by  Mr.  Heston  and  other  members  of  the  faculty, 
who  were  present  at  the  time  named.  He  states,  in  this  connection,  that 
in  consequence  of  the  trouble  that  followed  this  night's  disorder  on  the 
part  of  the  students,  he  sent  certain  boys  home.  This  is  untrue ;  no  per- 
son was  dismissed  by  the  faculty  or  by  Mr.  Shortlidge  in  connection  with 
that  trouble.  I  do  not  know  that  the  points  in  regard  to  Mr.  Hunter's 
case  were  brought  out.  The  student  that  was  sitting  next  to  him  went  to 
Mr.  Shortlidge  and  told  him  that  Mr.  Hunter  had  not  kicked  the  bench  at 
the  time  referred  to,  and  oflFered  to  testify  to  this  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  Mr.  Shortlidge  refused  to  accept  that  testimony,  and  the  student 
who  brought  this  statement  to  Mr.  Shortlidge  left  the  institution,  declar- 
ing that  when  testimony  would  not  be  received  to  free  a  wrongly-accused 
person  he  would  not  continue  a  member  of  the  institution.  He  Teft  within 
eight  days  of  that  time.  A  young  man  by  the  name  of  Johnson  was  the 
student  referred  to.  President  Shortlidge  affirms  t'aat  two  professors 
were  in  General  Beaver's  office  making,  he  knows  not  what,  statements 
concerning  him,  and  that  General  Beaver,  acting  upon  those  statements, 
said  and  did  certain  things.  Those  professors  were  Osmond  and  myself, 
and  we  went  in  during  the  sitting  of  the  executive  committee,  of  which 
Mr.  Shortlidge,  Judge  Orvis,  and  General  Beaver  were  members. 

Mr.  Shortlidge  then  broke  out  into  an  attack  upon  me,  saying  that  I  was 
affected  by  disappointment,  having  desired  to  be  president  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  he  made  many  other  statements  injurious  to  me.  To  his  first 
charge.  General  Beaver  replied  that,  while  conversing  with  him  and  another 
member  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  board  to  nominate  a  successor 
to  Doctor  Calder  as  president,  I  stated  that  if  any  man  knew  ten  reasons 
why  1  would  not  suit  the  presidencj',  I  knew  twenty  why  it  would  not  suit 
me,  and  that,  under  no  circumstances,  would  I  be  a  candidate;  and,  there- 
fore, General  Beaver  said  Mr.  Shortlidge's  statement  was  not  correct.  Not 
a  word  was  spoken  to  General  Beaver,  on  that  occasion,  by  Professor 
Osmond  or  me,  except  in  the  hearing  of  Judge  Orvis  and  of  Mr.  Short- 
lidge. If  you  desire,  you  can  verify  my  statement  by  the  persons  1  have 
named,  and  thus  see  that  his  statements  have  no  substantial  basis.  He 
makes  a  statement  that  articles  published  in  the  Legislative  Record  were 
furnished  by  Professor  Hamilton,  and  that  he  (Mr.  Shortlidge)  was  not 
responsible  for  those  articles  as  his  report.  The  fact  is,  that  those  were 
furnished  by  Mr.  Shortlidge  as  the  secretary  of  the  board.  Mr.  Shortlidge 
is  responsible,  as  he  alone  could  present  those  papers.  No  other  college 
officer  had  them  all  in  his  hands.  These  papers  were  handed  to  the  secre- 
tary of  the  board  at  a  meeting  of  the  board,  and  he  passed  them  over  to 
the  Legislature.  There  is  one  point  to  which  I  should  like  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  committee :  Did  the  committee  learn  from  Mr.  Rhone 
what  reasons  were  assigned  by  him  for  impugning  the  testimony  of  pro- 
fessors ?  Mr.  Shortlidge  says,  on  Mr.  Rhone's  authority,  I  believe,  that 
those  members  of  the  faculty  who  met  the  committee  of  the  board,  and 
gave  in  their  testimony  derogatory  to  Mr.  Shortlidge's  administration,  had 
a  set-up  story,  the  parts  of  which  fitted  together,  and  which,  of  course, 
was  untrue  in  its  main  features. 
By  Mr.  Alexander : 

I  have  no  recollection  of  Mr.  Rhone  being  asked  that ;  I  do  not  think 
he  was. 


374  Report  of  the  Committee.  f^o,  18, 

Witness : 

There  was  no  set-up  statement.  I  was  one  of  the  parties  ;  and  no  such 
action  was  taken  among  those  who  testified  in  the  case.  Their  testimony 
was  consistent,  because  they  told  the  truth.  His  statement  in  regard  to 
the  number  of  trustees  in  attendance  at  the  meetings  of  the  board  is  in- 
correct. I  may  give  the  figures  for  the  meeting  at  which  the  famous  reso- 
lution of  June  30,  1880,  was  passed.  There  were  but  six  members  present 
then  ;  the  next  meeting  there  were  ten ;  and  the  next  meeting  nine.  These 
figures  I  have  taken  from  the  records  of  the  board.  At  present  I  am 
secretary  of  the  board,  and  you  can  examine  the  minutes  in  reference  to 
this  point. 

By  Mr.  Hall : 

Q.  You  have  been  connected  with  the  institution  for  several  years.  Do 
you  or  do  you  not  see  a  gradual  improvement  in  the  general  features  of 
this  institution  since  you  came  here  ? 

A.  I  see  a  great  improvement  unquestionably,  a  growth  of  its  useful- 
ness. A  raising  of  the  standard  of  instruction,  and  the  result  has  been 
that  people  who  once  become  acquainted  with  it,  become  more  devoted  to 
it  and  appreciate  all  its  advantages.  The  great  diflJiculty  of  the  institution 
was  that  students  who  entered,  did  not  find  their  advantages  so  great  as  to 
raise  in  them  the  idea  of  the  great  importance  of  graduating.  Now  the 
ease  is  different ;  while  the  members,  if  actual  attendance  may  not  be  any 
greater,  nearly  all  are  desiring  to  continue  to  graduation.  Our  present 
senior  class  has  but  ten  members  on  the  list,  and  nine  of  that  number 
graduate,  while  the  tenth  would  have  done  so,  had  it  not  been  for  a  serious 
illness.  If  you  will  take  the  catalogue  of  previous  years,  one  third  of  all 
those  whose  names  are  in  the  senior  class  did  not  reach  graduation  and  a 
much  larger  number  in  the  freshman,  which  dropping  out  was  in  large 
measure  caused  by  the  system  of  instruction.  Our  practicums  which,  in 
early  days  were  crude  and  amounted  to  little  more  than  ordinary  farm 
labor  that  could  be  learned  on  any  farm,  has  been  gradually  improved. 
We  have  made  the  matter  a  thorough  practical  course.  We  desire  that  the 
student  retain  his  practical  knowledge,  and  he  will  retain  it  because  he 
knows  why  each  part  of  the  work  was  done.  The  conception  of  industrial 
education  has  been  growing  and  widening  until  we  believe  that  we  have  the 
right  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  '*  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the 
industrial  classes.  " 

Q.  What  were  your  relations  with  Professor  Shortlidge  while  president 
of  this  institution  ? 

A.  They  were  never  unpleasant  in  the  sense  of  my  saying  discourteous 
things  to  him.  I  never  received  any  discourtesy  from  him,  I  believe,  ex- 
cept in  the  one  instance  which  he  has  alluded  to  as  occurring  in  faculty 
meeting.  He  misrepresents  that  case  so  much  I  may  state  the  explana- 
tion. The  faculty  met  at  his  request  to  consider  a  case  of  gross  disorder. 
He  stated  to  the  faculty  his  plan  for  meeting  the  case,  and  asked  for  advice 
from  the  facult3^  No  person  spoke  for  some  little  time,  and  after  a  brief 
delay  I  spoke,  making  some  suggestions  differing  from  the  details  of  the 
plan  he  had  presented.  He  turned  vipon  me  and  said  :  "  I  want  not  another 
word  out  of  3'^our  moiith.  I  know  who  are  my  friends  here."  I  waited  a 
minute,  and  with  perhaps  unusual  control  of  myself  said  :  "  You  certainly 
misunderstand  me  in  what  I  have  said,  for  I  meant  nothing  that  you  could 
take  exceptions  to."  He  replied  :  "  I  understand  very  well;  not  another 
word."  I  replied  :  "  If  you  continue  president  as  long  as  I  trust  you  may, 
you  will  know  this  is  untrue  and  unjust."  One  word  as  to  what  I  believe 
could  be  justly  considered  discourteous  to  Mr.  Shortlidge.     One  Sabbath 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  375 

day,  in  our  morning  Bible  class,  he  raised  the  question  concerning  inspira- 
tion and  revelation.  After  getting  some  boy's  answer  to  the  question  he 
said  that  he  knew  that  there  was  revelation,  adding  :  "  I  have  had  revela- 
tions myself."  Some  of  the  boys,  in  a  spirit  of  what  is  called  chaffing,  be- 
gan to  question  him  about  that  revelation,  and  one  asked  him  :  "  President 
Shortlidge,  if  you  have  had  a  revelation  why  don't  you  publish  it  ?"  He 
said  :  "  I  might  write  four  lines  of  very  good  poetry,  equal  to  that  of  Byron 
or  Longfellow,  but  either  of  them  could  write  a  long  poem ;  it  would  not 
be  worth  while  to  publish  my  four  lines,  and  it  would  be  worth  while  for 
them  to  publish  this  poem."  I  felt  indignant  at  this  perversion  of  the  idea 
of  revelation,  and  I  said  :  "I  think  there  is  a  very  good  reason  for  your 
not  publishing  yours — a  reason  given  in  the  word  of  God,  and  you  will 
find  it  in  the  last  chapter  of  the  book  of  Revelations,"  referring  to  the 
verse  which  pronounces  a  curse  on  those  who  add  to  the  words  of  the 
book.  That,  I  believe,  was  the  only  discourteous  thing  that  I  ever  did  to 
Mr.  Shortlidge  during  his  connection  with  the  institution.  I  was  indig- 
nant, and  so  forgot  myself  for  the  moment  as  to  do  what  was  very  dis- 
courteous. 

Q.  During  the  time  ^at  he  was  here,  how  did  he  conduct  the  institution  ? 

A.  I  think  that  he  meant  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office  right,  but 
he  had  no  conception  of  the  duties.  He  had  not  been  in  college  except  a 
brief  space,  not  quite  a  year  I  think,  and  he  had  no  experience  to  acquaint 
him  with  college  duties.  I  do  not  want  to  bring  any  charge  against  Mr. 
Shortlidge,  but  he  had  no  conception  of  what  his  duties  were. 

Q.  During  the  time  you  have  been  connected  with  this  institution  have 
there  been  any  cases  of  gross  immoralitj'^  ?  You  will  notice  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Miss  Bell  Shortlidge  that  there  are  such  charges. 

A.  I  did  not  read  her  testimony. 

Q.  Have  there  been  any  cases  of  gross  immorality  since  you  have  been 
connected  with  the  institution  ? 

A.  I  have  not  known  of  a  case  of  what  I  would  call  gross  immorality. 
I  have  never  seen  a  student  drunk  in  the  institution,  (that  was  one  of  the 
charges,  I  believe.)  There  have  been  cases  of  drunkenness,  but  they  were 
so  rare  that  I  have  forgotten  the  name  of  the  student.  I  never  saw  a 
drunken  student  on  these  grounds.  I  saw  one,  I  remember,  years  ago  in 
Bellefonte,  the  only  intoxicated  student  that  I  have  seen  during  my  con- 
nection with  the  institution. 

Q.  Have  you  known  of  any  other  cases  of  immorality  ? 

A.  I  think  not.  I  understand  that  Miss  Belle  places  the  use  of  tobacco 
among  the  cases  of  immorality.  That  is  done,  I  think,  to  some  extent 
here,  but  as  little  used  as  in  any  other  institution  in  the  land.  I  think  that 
one  third  of  those  who  comply  with  the  college  custom  of  smoking  the  pipe 
of  peace  here  in  class-day  exercises  have  never  used  tobacco  in  any  form, 
and  that  is  probably  as  large  an  average  as  could  be  found  in  any  institu- 
tion ;  one  third — there  may  be  a  larger  proportion. 

Q.  She  speaks  about  little  boys  ten  and  twelve  years  of  age  who  chew  and 
smoke  in  the  halls.     Do  you  know  anything  of  that  ? 

A.  There  were  no  students  here,  fifteen  years  of  age  and  under,  during 
the  administration  of  President  Shortlidge,  who  were  not  under  the  care  of 
their  parents.  Mr.  Patterson,  who  lives  on  the  farm,  and  four  or  five  of 
the  professors  had  some  children;  of  those  all  were  under  fifteen  years,  but 
they  did  not  room  in  the  college,  and  the  college  was  not  responsible  for 
the  conduct  of  such.  I  went  over  the  list,  however,  as  made  out  by  Mr. 
Shortlidge,  and  but  three  persons  on  that  list  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  used 


3t6  Report  of  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

tobacco  at  all.  I  never  saw  a  boy  of  ten  or  twelve  smoke  in  the  hall,  but 
it  is  possible  that  such  a  thing  occurred. 

Q.  Have  there  been  any  cases  of  scandal  arising  from  the  college  ? 

A.  You  mean  illicit  intercourse  ? 

Q.  Yes,  sir. 

A.  I  have  no  recollection  of  any  case  as  occurring  during  my  connection 
with  the  institution.  If  such  a  case  has  occurred,  I  cannot  recollect  it  at 
present.  Yes,  there  was  one  case  about  eleven  years  ago,  probably.  I  do 
not  know  anything  more  than  that  it  was  reported.  No  criminal  proceed- 
ings were  instituted,  nothing  to  establish  the  guilt  of  the  student.  The 
student  left  before  the  thing  was  even  rumored,  and  there  was  no  investi- 
gation. 

Q.  It  was  only  hearsay  ? 

A.  It  was  only  hearsay,  but  there  was  such  a  thing  spoken  of. 

Q,.  The  girl  was  not  a  girl  in  the  institution  ? 

A.  No,  sir, 

Q.  From  your  knowledge  of  the  institution  and  others  of  like  character 
in  the  country,  what  can  you  say  as  to  the  discipline,  general  conduct,  and 
curriculum  of  this  institution,  as  compare i  with  others  ? 

A.  I  think  that  the  conduct  of  the  college  has  called  for  as  little  discip- 
line as  would  be  called  for  in  any  other  similar  institution.  The  curricu- 
lum and  the  method  of  instruction  have  always,  in  their  intention,  met  my 
idea.  I  came  here  without  feeling  confident  in  regard  to  the  matter,  but 
from  the  day  that  I  understood  the  idea  in  what  we  call  practicums  in  the 
application  of  the  studies  in  the  laboratory  and  on  the  farm,  I  believed 
that  there  was  the  right  conception  of  education  here — such  a  union  of 
theory  and  practice  as  was  not  effected  in  ordinary  institutions.  I  believe 
that  the  curriculum  is  wisely  adapted  in  its  provisions  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  acts  of  Congress,  and  meet  the  needs  of  the  industrial  classes  ; 
that  it  is  greatly  improved  and  that  the  curriculum  of  to-day  is  better  in 
that  respect  than  of  any  preceding  period. 

Q.  Can  you  suggest  anything  which  could  be  done  by  the  Legislature 
to  increase  the  facilities  of  this  institution  ? 

A.  The  question  is  too  wide  a  one  for  me  to  answer  off  hand, 

Q.  With  the  present  resources,  can  we  do  anything  to  increase  the  in- 
terest in  this  institution  of  the  people  at  large  ? 

A,  I  have  not  thought  of  the  question  before.  I  am  clear  upon  one 
point,  at  least,  and  that  is  that  if  the  Western  experimental  farm  cannot 
have  greater  financial  aid,  the  Legislature  would  do  wisely  in  authorizing 
its  sale  and  possibly  that  of  the  Eastern  experimental  farm.  I  do  not 
now  think  of  any  point  other  than  this  which  would  be  within  the  scope  of 
legislative  action, 

Q.  Have  there  been  any  adequate  returns  from  the  experimental  farms. 
Eastern  and  Western '( 

A.  From  the  Western  there  has  not.  The  fact,  as  has  been  stated  in  the 
published  reports,  is  that  the  Western  farm  has  certain  disadvantages,  and 
that  unless  a  fund  could  be  appropriated  to  thoroughly  under  drain  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  land,  it  would  not  meet  the  requirements  of  an  ex- 
perimental farm.     Experimental  work  was  given  up  on  it  three  years  ago. 

Q.  What  about  the  Eastern  farm  ? 

A.  The  Eastern  farm  I  cannot  judge  very  thoroughly.  I  have  never 
visited  it  as  I  have  the  Western  farm,  and  have  no  personal  knowledge  of 
it.  I  have  heard  gentlemen  of  Chester  county  affirm  that  great  advantages 
have  been  gained  by  the  citizens  of  Chester  and  adjoining  counties. 

Q.  Have  there  been  any  advantages  accruing  to  the  people  at  large  ? 


Leg.  Doc]  Pennsylvania  State  College.  37  T 

A.  I  do  not  think  that  the  people  have  compared  the  records  from  year 
to  year  so  as  to  see  the  results.  Consequently  there  is  no  great  practical 
advantage.  I  think  that  there  were  some  valuable  experiments  tried,  which 
is  very  difficult  to  get. 

Q.  It  is  really  local  in  its  character  ? 

A.  I  presume  it  is  rather  of  that  character.     I  have  spoken  without  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  it. 
By  Mr.  Roberts  : 

Q.  How  does  the  attendance  of  students  compare  with  last  year  ? 

A.  Somewhat  larger  than  last  year.  Perhaps  the  students  average  be- 
tween ten  and  fifteen  more  than  last  year ;  and  a  larger  proportion  are  in 
continuous  attendance. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  the  call  of  Senator  Mylin,  chairman,  it  being  under- 
stood that  the  sub-committee  would,  on  Thursday,  June  29,  1882,  visit  the 
experimental  farm  near  Indiana,  Pennsylvania. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL. 


Messrs.  Hall  and  Roberts  arrived  at  Indiana,  Pennsylvania,  on  June  29, 
1882,  a,  m.,  and  went  over  the  experimental  farm. 


Senate  Committee-room,  Harrisburg,  Pa., 

January  11^  1883. 

A  meeting  of  the  sub-committee  on  investigation  into  the  State  College 
met  as  above,  at  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 

Present :  Senator  A.  H.  Mylin,  chairman ;  Senator  Alexander,  ex-Repre- 
sentative W.  B.  Roberts,  and  Representative  George  W.  Hall. 

The  printed  proceedings  of  the  various  meetings  of  the  general  and  sub- 
committees, comprising  nearly  one  thousand  pages,  were  submitted  and 
examined  by  the  sub-committee,  when,  on  motion  of  ex- Representative 
Roberts,  the  same  were  referred  to  the  chairman  of  the  sub-committee  to 
condense  the  matter  and  prepare  a  form  of  report  for  submission  at  a 
meeting  to  be  called  of  the  general  committee,  for  consideration,  and,  if 
approved  by  them,  then  to  be  reported  to  the  session  of  the  Legislature, 
as  directed  in  the  original  resolution  of  April  28,  188L 

Adjourned.    . 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 
Secretary. 


Senate  Committee-room,  Harrisburg,  Pa., 
Tuesday,  p.  m.,  February  6,  1883. 

The  general  committee  on  the  investigation  of  the  State  College  met,  as 
above,  at  the  call  of  Senator  Alexander,  chairman. 

Present :  Messrs.  Alexander,  chairman  ;  Mylin,  Newmyer,  Holben,  Hall, 
Slack,  Millham,  and  Roberts. 

The  sub-committee  presented  their  report,  which  was  thoroughly  dis- 
cussed, when,  on  motion,  adjournment  was  ordered  until  February  7,  1883. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 
Secretary. 


3t8  Report  op  the  Committee.  [No.  18, 

Wednesday,  February  7,  188S. 

The  general  committee  held  three  sessions  this  day — morning,  afternoon, 
and  night — when,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  William  B.  Roberts  that  the  report 
of  the  sub-committee  be  adopted  and  presented  to  the  Legislature,  the 
question  not  being  ready,  the  committee  adjourned  at  11  o'clock,  p.  m.,  to 
meet  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m.,  February  8,  1883. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 


Senate  Committee-room,  Harrisburg,  Pa., 
Thursday,  9  o^clock,  a.  m.,  February  8,  1883. 

The  general  committee  on  the  investigation  of  the  State  College  met,  as 
above,  in  pursuance  to  the  order  of  adjournment  last  night,  when,  after 
due  consideration,  the  motion  that  the  report  presented  by  the  sub-com- 
mittee be  adopted,  as  the  sense,  conclusion,  and  report  of  the  general 
committee,  and  that  the  same  be  presented  by  Senator  A.  H.  Mylin  to  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  was  unanimously  adopted. 
On  motion,  at  12,  m.,  the  committee  adjourned  sine  die. 

GEORGE  W.  HALL, 

Secretary. 


Legislative  Document,  No.  18. 


INDEX. 


Page. 

Acts  of  Assembly  relating  to  the  Pennsylvania  State  College, 17-34 

Act  of  Congress  of  July  2,  1862, 4-8,23-25 

•Act  of  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  approved  April  1,  1863,  accepting  the  land- 
grant, 5,25-26 

Admission  to  college, 49,59,60 

Agreement  between  VV.  R.  Shelmire  and  John  Hamilton, 212-213 

Beaver,  Greneral  James  A.,  testimony  of, 339-355 

Blight,  George,  testimony  of, 247-249 

Bond  for  |500,000,  copy  of, 89 

Buildings,  condition  of, 64 

Buildings,  cost  of, 64 

Calendar  for  1881-82, 56 

Carter,  John  I.,  testimony  of, 213-218 

College  course, 52-c7 

Committee,  meeting  of,  in  Bellefonte, 36,318-362 

"  "  <'      Harrisburg, 36-137,377-378 

"  "  »      Philadelphia, 138-170,247-318 

"  «'  "      State  college, 35,362-377 

"  "  "      West  Grove, 171-247 

Conclusions  and  recommendations  of  committee, 11-15 

Cost  of  farms, 61 

Debts, 47 

Decrees  of  the  court  relating  to  the  Pennsylvania  State  College, 29-33 

Educational  department, .    4-18 

Educational  expenses, 74-75 

Expenditures,     46 

Expenditures  and  receipts, 63 

Expenses,  annual,  for  repairs, 64 

Expenses  of  students, 58-59 

Experimental  farms, 10-11 

Experimental  farms,  amounts  received  by,  from  the  college, 63 

Farmers'  institute, 57 

Financial  management, 8-10,43-44 

Financial  report,  1881, 65-73 

Fortney,  D.  F.,  testimony  of, 360-362 

Foster,  John  S.,  testimony  of, 364-365,371 

Free  Scholarship, 57-58 

Gordon,  Cyrus,  testimony  of, 355-360 

Graduates  and  discipline, 59 

Gray,  W.  E.,  testimony  of, 371 

Hamilton,  John,  treasurer  and  business  manager,  testimony  of,  .  38-94,118-121,137-138 

Harper,  J.  C,  testimony  of, 360 

Harvey,  Chalkley,  testimony  of, 232-235 

Harvey,  Thomas,  testimony  of, 171-204 

Hickman,  John  C.  F.,  testimony  of, 237-247,  312-314 

Hiester,  Gabriel,  testimony  of, 106-110 

Hunter,  R.  F.,  testimony  of, ; 365-366 


380  Index.  [No.  18. 

Page. 

Income, 45 

Instruction,  character  of, 47-49 

Investigation,  Resolution  appointing  Committee  of, 2 

Jackson,  Job  H.,  testimony  of,        204-213 

Jordan,  Hon.  Francis,  testimony  of, 110-113 

Jordan,  Prof.  W.  H.,  testimony  of, 866-368 

Land  Grant,  Act  of  the  Legislature  accepting, 5,  25-26 

Land  Scrip,  Minutes  of  Board  of  Commissioners  for  sale  of, 121-137 

Location,  Buildings,  <fec., 49-50 

Maukey,  Harry,  testimony  of, 368-370 

McKee,  C.  H.,  testimony  of,     113-117 

McKee,  Prof.  James  Y.,  testimony  of, 372-377 

Memorial  of  Board  of  Trustees  of  Pennsylvania  State  College, 1 

Military  Instruction, 58 

Minutes  of  Board  of  Commissioners  for  sale  of  Land  Scrip, 121-137 

Museums,  Laboratories,  Ac, 50 

Occupations  of  Students, 47 

Orvis,  Hon.  John  H.,  testimony  of, 319-339 

Pennsylvania  State  College,     49-60 

Admission, 49,59,60 

Buildings,  Condition  of, 64 

Buildings,  Cost  of, 64 

Calendar  for  1881-1882, 59 

Character  of  Instruction , 47-49 

College  Course, 52-57 

Condition  of  Buildings, 64 

Cost  of  Buildings, 64 

Debts, 47 

Educational  Department, 4-8 

Educational  Expenses,  schedule  of, 74-75 

Expenditures,     46 

Expenditures  and  Receipts, !  ....    63 

Expense,  annual,  for  repairs, 64 

Expense  of  Students, 58-59 

Farmers'  Institute, .    67 

Financial  Management,   .   .  .   . 8-10, 43-44 

Financial  Report,  1881, 65-73 

Free  Scholarships, 57-58 

Graduates  and  Discipline, 59 

Income, 45 

Location,  Buildings,  &c., 49-50 

Museums,  Laboratories,  (fee., 50 

Military  Instruction, 58 

Practicums, 50-51 

Preparatory  Courses, 51-52 

Receipts  and  Expenditures, 63 

Religious  Instruction, 57 

Repairs,  annual  expense  of, 64 

Special  Courses, 57 

Subsequent  Occupations  of  Students, ' 47 

Value  of  Property, 42-43 

Piolette,  Victor,  testimony  of, 94-103 

Practicums, 50-51 

Prepartory  Courses 51-52 

Property,  value  of, 42-43 

Receipts  and  Expenditures, 63 


Leg.  Doc]  •    Index.  381 

Page. 

Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  Central  Experimental  Farm,  1869-1881, 62 

Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  Eastern  Experimental  Farm,  1868-1881, 62 

Recommendations  of  Committee, 11-15 

Religious  Instruction, *. 57 

Repairs,  annual  expense  of, 64 

Report  of  Sub-Committee, 3-15 

Resolution  Appointing  Committee  of  Investigation, 2 

Rhone,  Leonard,  testimony  of, 163-170 

Sharpless,  Alfred,  testimony  of, 307-310 

Sharpless,  N.  J.,  testimony  of, 235-237 

Shelmire,  W.  R.,  testimony  of, 218-232 

Shortlidge,  Miss  Belle,  testimony  of, 287-307 

Shortlidge,  Joseph,  testimony  of, 249-282 

Smith,  A.  O.,  testimony  of, 314-317 

Smith,  G.  A.,  testimony  of, 317-318 

Special  courses,      57 

Starkweather,  S.  W.,  testimony  of, 103-106 

Statement  of  accounts  of  "Western  Experimental  Farm,  1869  to  1881, 63 

Stewart,  John  W.,  testimony  of, 370-371 

Sub-committee  of  investigation  committee, 2,36 

Sub-committee,  report  of  full  committee, 3-15 

Subscriptions  and  donations  to  Pennsylvania  State  College,  list  of,   .   .  138-163 ,  173-181 

Testimony  of  General  James  A.  Beaver, 339-355 

Testimony  of  George  Blight, 247-249 

Testimony  of  John  I.  Carter, 213-218 

Testimony  of  D.  F.  Fortney, 360-362 

Testimony  of  John  S.  Foster 364-365 

Testimony  of  Cyrus  Gordon, 355-360 

Testimony  of  W.  E.  Gray,    .   .  '. 371 

Testimony  of  J.  C.  Harper, 360 

Testimony  of  Challiley  Harvey, 232-235 

Testimony  of  Thomas  Harvey, 171-204 

Testimony  of  John  C.  F.  Hiclcman, 237-247,312-314 

Testimony  of  Gabriel  Hiester, 106-110 

Testimony  of  R.  F.  Hunter, 365-366 

Testimony  of  William  P.  Huston, 121 

Testimony  of  Job  H.  Jackson, 204-213 

Testimony  of  Hon.  Francis  Jordan, 110-113 

Testimony  of  Prof.  W.  H.  Jordan, 366-368 

Testimony  of  Harry  Maukey, 368-370 

Testimony  of  C.  H.  McKee 113-117 

Testimony  of  Prof.  James  Y.  McKee, ' 372-377 

Testimony  of  Hon.  John  H.  Orvis, 319-339 

Testimony  of  Victor  Piolette, 94-103 

Testimony  of  Alfred  Sharpless, 307-310 

Testimony  of  N.  J.  Sharpless, 235-237 

Testimony  of  W.  R.  Shelmire, 21S-232 

Testimony  of  Miss  Belle  Shortlidge 287-307 

Testimony  of  Joseph  Shortlidge, 249-286 

Testimony  of  A.  O.  Smith, 314-317 

Testimony  of  G.  A.  Smith, 317-318 

Testimony  of  S.  W.  Starkweather, 103-106 

Testimony  of  John  W.  Stewart, 370-371 

Testimony  of  John  J.  Thompson, 362-364 

Thompson,  John  J.,  testimony  of, 362-364 


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